Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/841614
114 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW SPECIALISTS S pecial teams don't necessarily have to win games in football. For newly hired special teams coor‑ dinator Brian Polian — who held the same job title at Notre Dame from 2005‑09 — the first objective is to help not lose them. That happened way too frequently in 2016. • In the 36‑28 loss to Michigan State, a penalty on the opening kickoff erased an Irish touchdown, and a recovered ball by MSU on a punt miscue sparked 36 unan‑ swered points by the Spartans. • Notre Dame took a 14‑0 lead in the first eight minutes against Duke — but the Blue Devils then returned a kickoff for a score to propel their 38‑35 win. • North Carolina State blocked an Irish punt and returned it for a touchdown, the difference in the 10‑3 conquest. • Too many Notre Dame men on the field on a Navy punt resulted in the Midship‑ men keeping possession for the eventual go‑ahead score in their 28‑27 win. • USC returned a punt and a kick for scores while upending the Irish 45‑27. Thus, Polian said coaching special teams is like a physician taking the Hippocratic oath. "My first job is, 'Do no harm,'" Polian said. "My first concern is the elimination of big plays against us." That's not to say the Irish won't have their own weapons with a veteran nucleus of kicker Justin Yoon, punter Tyler Newsome and return man C.J. Sanders. "It's been a little while since I've been able to coach a guy that had that kind of juice and that kind of wiggle," Polian said of Sanders. Yet Notre Dame nearly lost the Miami game, too, when Sanders fumbled a punt that the Hurricanes recovered in the end zone. However, junior wide receiver Chris Finke set up the winning score for the Irish with a 23‑yard punt return. Among the mainstays who could play on all four units — kick coverage, punt cov‑ erage, kick return and punt return — are running backs Tony Jones Jr. and Dexter Williams. Sophomore wide receiver Chase Claypool was a standout on special teams last year — he produced a team‑high 11 tackles, seven solo — while junior Miles Boykin (6‑4, 225) and sophomore Javon McKinley (6‑2, 220) also could have im‑ portant roles in the kicking game because of their physicality. Whether it's just what the doctor ordered remains to be seen. ✦ 'DO NO HARM' Too many snafus in the third phase of the game were deadly during Notre Dame's 2016 season Last year, junior Tyler Newsome ranked 26th nationally with an average of 43.5 yards per punt, but Notre Dame was only 106th in net punting at 35.28 yards. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN