Scouting UTC Special Teams

Special teams is always overlooked, but it plays a key part for every team in every game.  Let's take a look at the UTC special teams unit and what the Bulls can expect in this game.

At the kicker position is sophomore Nick Pollard (6-0 180-pounds) who was named to the Southern Conference all freshmen team last season after connecting on 10 out of 14 attempts (71.9%) with a long of 38 yards (had 1 blocked). He was also the kick off specialist for the Mocs, kicking off 50 times for a total of 2999 yards (60 yards per kick-off) including 1 kick out of bounds and 1 for a touchback. Pollard is also the starting punter for the Mocs, it will be his first season as the starting punter and will use a rugby style to punt the ball (field position should be fun to watch with the coverage team).  

The Mocs lost two seniors last season, Mike Hammons (averaged 40.2 yards a punt) and Joel Bradford (39.1 yards per punt) so it will be interesting to see how effective Pollard can be in during the game. With a new punter and a rugby style being used, the Bulls should be able to make something happen in the return game. USF was quiet in special teams last season after Terrence Mitchell went down with a concussion, but with his return, look for the Bulls to make bigger impact plays in the return game. 

At the long snapper position (yes, we are covering that too) is junior Blake Coddington (6-3 220-pounds) who appeared in 3 games last season. He will be replacing senior Brock Oliver. 

At the holder position is reserve quarterback Jacob Huesman (6-1 210-pounds). He is the son of head coach Russ Huesman. 

At the kick return position is junior cornerback Chaz Moore (5-10 165-pounds) who returned 18 kick-offs for 468 yards (26 per returns) last season including a long of 44 yards. 

Senior running back Chris Awuah (5-9 200-pounds) returned 7 kick-offs for 151 yards (21.6 per returns) including a long of 30 yards. 

Finally sophomore wide receiver Tommy Hudson (5-10 165-pounds) retuned 6 kicks for 117 yards (19.5 per kick) including a long of 26 yards, giving the Mocs 3 solid return specialist that will challenge the USF coverage team. The Mocs have solid returning kick returners, but they have questions at punt return. 

There top returner from last season, Joel Bradford, graduated, leaving the Mocs without an experienced return man. Tommy Hudson is listed as the punt returner, but he recorded no punt returns last season (no one on the team did last season aside from Bradford) so it could be a shaky position and the Bulls should be able to stop their return game and win the battle of field position.