2018 Verbal: KENNETH CHANNELLE, WR FL

[Professor Chaos]

Our punter could only kick the ball 30-35 yards, I get that and it will change with a new better punter. However, I don't see why a great team has to settle for average special teams. There are two sides to conservative calls on Spec Teams. One of those is play aggressive and when you do make a mistake your defense can bail you out. The other asks you to punt it away, take no chances and let your defense get it back. I would prefer to see the Bison go to a four down offense from mid-field most every time. Play calling on first down considers the fact that your in four-down mode. Not too often would the Bison give the ball up. And once again, the defense is there to back you up. I favor keeping the ball as much as possible and blowing teams out early. Challenge your team to dominate early vs. hang on late.

Special teams has kind of been an Achilles heal of the Klieman era in general.

In 2014 I remember they started putting guys like Emanuel and Heagle on kick/punt returns later in the year because they were giving up too many yards and those guys kind of got burnt out it seemed by the playoffs. In 2015 we had the struggles with placekicking from the failed experiment with Lecompte as the placekicker in Missoula to Pederson's struggles throughout the year and especially in the playoffs. In 2016 the FG kicking was better but the return game took a step back with Bruce Anderson and Eric Perkins both battling injuries and of course there was the much lamented lack of pop in the punt game. This past year the punt coverage unit took a big step backwards and the special teams as a whole were dominated in Frisco.

I think from a pure Xs and Os perspective Klieman is a superior coach to Bohl but special teams under Bohl were almost always stellar.

[KNOW IT ALL]

I think both coaches are great and have their differences as well. I keep thinking of the JMU fake punt late in the game this year. It was so well designed that it would have worked even if the Bison had sniffed it out. I go back to the days of Bohl, it could be considered that without a few well timed trick plays the Bison don't have the titles they now have. Fake punts and big kick returns were the difference in a number of big games in the early FCS title years. I have nothing but admiration for the Klieman staff, however, with improvement in special team and the addition of some big plays (including timely trick plays) I feel the Bison can be even more dominant. Being great doesn't mean they cant get better!! And I bet the coaches preach that to their team every day.

[natstar1]

6 national championships in 7 years playing this style. We chucked the ball on 3rd and long as SDSU and many were picks. But have you seen on 3rd down offense? Hint it's pretty good

I was more so pointing out that you are ultra conservative, not that anyone would punt on 3rd down.

[CAS4127]

Our punter wasn't nearly as good as LeCompte. I was more referring to our style where we don't go for a ton of blocks and take a lot of fair catches. We haven't needed many big returns because we've had huge leads. It would be nice to have an explosive return game when we're in a close game though

Not going for blocks AND always fair-catching kinda contradict one another. If you’re not trying to block the punt, setting up return is what you should be doing. We just do neither.


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[BisManBison]

Not going for blocks AND always fair-catching kinda contradict one another. If you’re not trying to block the punt, setting up return is what you should be doing. We just do neither.


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Yep, the MO seems to be just to fair catch every punt to get the ball back and the defense off the field. More often than not we are leaving our base defense out there to discourage a fake. Didn't work so well one time this year a fake was warranted and seemed obvious that it was coming.

[TAILG8R]

I think both coaches are great and have their differences as well. I keep thinking of the JMU fake punt late in the game this year. It was so well designed that it would have worked even if the Bison had sniffed it out. I go back to the days of Bohl, it could be considered that without a few well timed trick plays the Bison don't have the titles they now have. Fake punts and big kick returns were the difference in a number of big games in the early FCS title years. I have nothing but admiration for the Klieman staff, however, with improvement in special team and the addition of some big plays (including timely trick plays) I feel the Bison can be even more dominant. Being great doesn't mean they cant get better!! And I bet the coaches preach that to their team every day.

Something tells me that if we call timeout and re-align in order to cover a fake punt JMU changes their call. So simply being heads up in that situation would probably have changed the outcome. Just my opinion.

[KNOW IT ALL]

Something tells me that if we call timeout and re-align in order to cover a fake punt JMU changes their call. So simply being heads up in that situation would probably have changed the outcome. Just my opinion.

My point is that a well designed fake can even be successful if sniffed out. Going back to the first couple FCS title teams, it was crazy how big special teams were. Seems every game we had a timely fake punt and lets not forget how well the Bison responded to opposing TD's by returning the next kickoff back into the oppositions side of the field, frequently!!! Big special teams plays were very common. NOTHING changes the flow of a game quicker than a big special teams play and the current roster has the talent to excel in this part of the game, and probably will again soon.

[IzzyFlexion]

Punting stats:

2013:
Opponents Punted: 101 times.
NDSU Punt Returns: 30.
NDSU Punt Return Yards: 399.

2014:
Opponents Punted: 91 times.
NDSU Punt Returns: 26.
NDSU Punt Return Yards: 250.

2015:
Opponents Punted: 103 times.
NDSU Punt Returns: 29.
NDSU Punt Return Yards: 343.

2016:
Opponents Punted: 64 times.
NDSU Punt Returns: 12.
NDSU Punt Return Yards: 151.

2017:
Opponents Punted: 93 times.
NDSU Punt Returns: 23.
NDSU Punt Return Yards: 136.

[BisonNeil]

Well, I think the entire attitude of kicking Klieman to the curb because the special teams have always been bad under him compared to Bohl is due most to short memory spans. Granted, punting under Koonce has left a lot to be desired compared to LeCompte and others before him, but LeCompte was here the first two years of Klieman and punt coverage and kick coverage were good. I also seem to remember two kickoff returns in the 2015 playoffs that were crucial to winning a natty that year, especially the one in the UNI game. I don’t think it has been as bad as all of “woe are us” protagonists want to believe.

[Bison4x]

Well, I think the entire attitude of kicking Klieman to the curb because the special teams have always been bad under him compared to Bohl is due most to short memory spans. Granted, punting under Koonce has left a lot to be desired compared to LeCompte and others before him, but LeCompte was here the first two years of Klieman and punt coverage and kick coverage were good. I also seem to remember two kickoff returns in the 2015 playoffs that were crucial to winning a natty that year, especially the one in the UNI game. I don’t think it has been as bad as all of “woe are us” protagonists want to believe.

People need to find something to bitch about. When you are as good as the Bison have been for so many years, it's tough to find something to complain about.