For the season LSU opponents have a total of -11 punt return yards. That is a pretty strong stat when you consider some of the speedy return guys we faced.
Kudos go out to Wing for the VAST majority of that! Sure, coverage units have to do their job as well, but Wing's punts have been exceptionally accurate and phenominally high and deep.
Yeah Wiing has been incredibly accurate so far. In fact, he's been so accurate that I'm going to go out on an limb and call this waaaay in advance: Tigers and Gumps tied with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Ball somewhere around the Gump 35 and the Tigers are facing 4th and more than 5. Les runs the play clock almost out and calls his last timeout. The punting unit trots out and the talking heads start yabbering about how good that decision is. Pin the Gumps deep, play for overtime, blah blah blah. Wiing lines up short, about seven yards instead of the traditional 12 or so. AMAB (and old senile Vern) smell a Mad Hatter special fake and the Gumps call off the punt block they had set up in. Ball is snapped, AMAB plays punt safe and WIING DROP KICKS FOR THE WINNING 3 POINTS! The crowd goes nuts (the entire upper deck has to be prevented from leaping to their deaths; three couches spontaneously burst into flames in Morgantown) and the zebras huddle at midfield with explicit instructions from the home office in B'ham to find something to call the play back on. Penn Wagers, in a moment of utter frustration, throws both his hands into the air, inadvertently signaling a made field goal. The clock operator refuses to put the points on the board and the crowd looks for a virgin to sacrifice to the replay gods. Finding none (it is AMAB, after all), heaving sobs tear through the stadium. Little Nicky's head splits down the middle, exposing the demon he truly is. He burrows into the ground screaming, "But Dad, I thought you made the deal with ME, not Les!" Ignoring the gaping chasm on the AMAB sideline, the Tigers kick the ball off to the 10. Honey Badger tears down the field and the AMAB returner, fearing for his life (not to mention his immortal soul) throws the ball right at Honey Badger's head. Honey Badger catches the ball in his facemask, runs to the goalline and, once time expires, gently places the ball on the 1 inch line. The crowd goes silent. All of the crimson and white in the stands magically turns to purple and gold. Erin Andrews (yeah, it's a CBS game, but it's also my fantasy; get over it) runs up to interview The Hat. He touches her on the shoulder and she immediately gives birth to a child with her good looks and Les' isticles. Its sex is never determined. Les simply smiles, bends over, plucks a blade of grass from the field and puts it in his mouth. "I have a want," he says, "to taste the grass in Tiger Stadium. This stuff is a little sour." Or maybe not.
WTF, after 4 games that seems impossible. Did some more checking. This is just crazy stuff. The last 2 games Moo U and WVU didn't return ONE punt from us. They were all downed by our Special Teams or Fair Caught. In the two games where we had attempts at returns NWST only had 1 for a -1 yard. Oregon had 4 for -10 yards. Only 5 punts have even been attempted to be returned on us out of 19 kicks.
