2017 Preview - Special Teams

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ST_Lawson
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Sorry I didn’t get this put together sooner. Yesterday was a pretty crazy day for me and I wasn’t able to spend any time on it. But, a bit late is better than not at all, so here’s where things are with the Special Teams guys:

Kickers:
#32 Sophomore Kicker Sam Crosa
#33 Sophomore Kicker Nathan Erickson
#89 Redshirt Freshman Punter Adam Fellner

Long Snappers:
#53 Junior Long Snapper Hunter Varga
#61 Redshirt Freshman Long Snapper Nick O’Boyle

Juniors
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Sophomores
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Redshirt Freshmen
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Guys returning from last year...well...Hunter Varga handled long snapping duties for most (all?) of last season. Other than that, nobody else was on the field for us last year.

Players who are not returning from last year are:
Nathan Knuffman - Last year’s primary placekicker, was a Senior
Luke Otto - Last year’s primary punter, finished his bachelor’s degree and was able to transfer to Northwestern to play for them this season. Getting to punt for a Big 10 school while working on your masters in business at one of the best business schools in the country and getting your tuition covered by scholarship?...yea...that’s a pretty good deal.
Kyle Coale - Backup placekicker, left of his own accord.

How it looks like things will probably play out this season:
I see Hunter Varga probably continuing to handle long snapping duties barring any injury or serious problems with hitting his target. We weren’t spectacular at allowing blocked kicks/punts last season, but we did improve over the previous year. I don’t know of Hunter was part of that improvement, but things did get better around the time he became the full-time snapper for punts and kicks.

As for the “leg men”, it looks like Redshirt Freshman Adam Fellner is likely our starting punter for the season. He was pretty highly regarded out of high school and one of the more prominent kicking camps. He averaged 42 yards per punt with a long of 77 yards his senior year in HS.

Placekicking, however, still kinda seems like “anyone’s game” between Nathan Erickson and Sam Crosa. Earlier it seemed like Crosa was getting most of the duties, but they had a scrimmage last night where Erickson hit FGs from 48 and 37 yards, and Crosa had one from 33...so, they’re both getting playing time. At this point, it could be either.

This finishes up my summer position previews. Next Thursday will be my season preview, where I run down our games this season and post my predictions and then the Thursday after that...it’s Game Day!
Scott Lawson - Board Admin
Western Illinois University Alum/Fan/Employee
Member of the Marching Leathernecks - 1996-2000
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