General

Death to the Spread Punt

Oct 6, 2009, 9:00 PM UTC

â†µThe spread punt formation should die.â†µ

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â†µI might be biased on this topic because the first time I met theâ†µspread punt formation was in 2003. Michigan had a good team that year:â†µJohn Navarre was a senior and the Wolverines beat OSU by two touchdownsâ†µand went on to the Rose Bowl, where they lost because that is what Michiganâ†µdoes in the Rose Bowl. The spread punt came into my life during thatâ†µyear’s Iowa game, and quickly left. An innovative young grad assistantâ†µin charge of special teams had noticed some small college or high schoolâ†µdoing it and thought “self, that looks like progress,”â†µinstalling the newfangled thing for the Iowa game.â†µâ†µThe punter rolled out and rugby punted a couple times. Iowa got wise.â†µThey almost blocked one. They almost blocked another. Then they got one,â†µcausing veins to throb across Michigan. Undeterred, Michigan soldieredâ†µon. Iowa blocked a second punt, and veins started bursting, spurtingâ†µblood from every home and place of business occupied by Michigan grads.â†µFrom space, the state looked like a Busby Berkeley film as directed byâ†µWes Craven. Michigan lost a game in which they outgained the opponent by 170 yards. The gradâ†µassistant reportedly had a breakdown and immediately left coaching;â†µMichigan shelved the spread punt. Dead it remained. â†µ

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â†µBut other schools continued to implement it as the Lloyd Carr eraâ†µwound to a close, and for good reason: it really works. Spreadingâ†µeveryone across the field and telling them to run like bansheesâ†µdownfield turned two gunners into seven and seriously reduced the numberâ†µand effectiveness of punt returns. I ran the numbers on this on my blog:â†µin 2000, before the spread punt hit college, 46 percent of punts were returnedâ†µfor an average of 10.1 yards each. Last year, 39 percent of punts we returnedâ†µfor 9.1 yards each. If that doesn't seem like a huge reduction, keep inâ†µmind that there are still a large number of teams that, for whateverâ†µreason, are sticking with the old-school version of the punt return. Theâ†µreal numbers are bigger. For example, Michigan got around toâ†µre-implementing it last year when Rich Rodriguez hit campus, and these were the stark results: â†µ

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	2007	2008
Kick Average	41	42
Return Pct.	41%	25%
Ret Avg	7.3	7.8
Net	35.9	39.3

â†µâ†µSame punter, same personnel-for the most part -- but a differentâ†µformation. Punt returns dropped 40 percent; what few punts were returned wereâ†µusually surrounded. I’m not quite sure how the return average went up;â†µanecdotally, I assume it was general tackling incompetence. â†µ

â†µâ†µThat’s all well and good if you’re the only ones doing it, but whenâ†µeveryone does it, the punt return goes from a potentially game-changingâ†µplay to an opportunity to make a nicely executed fair catch. Vince McMahonâ†µwill tell you that fair catches are boring, and while he may lackâ†µawesome football league ideas -- the XFL’s “no fair catch” ruleâ†µcame coupled with a ridiculous five-yard halo -- he wasn’t wrong aboutâ†µeverything. Watching a guy catch a ball lacks a certain something, andâ†µthat something is a bare smidgen of interest. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe NCAA already put a severe damper on the rugby punt by declaringâ†µpunters live once they exit the tackle box; they should bring back theâ†µpunt return by implementing the NFL rule where only eligible receiversâ†µcan go downfield before the punt. Think of the children, who will beâ†µdeprived of moments like this ... â†µ

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