Eighth in a series of Northwestern position-by-position breakdowns going into the 2019 season.
Special Teams are just that- a special part of the game. They can sometimes take a good team and make them special. For the Northwestern Wildcats, head coach Pat Fitzgerald believes in this philosophy and that is why he has typically had a more direct hand in this facet of the game.
And though the stats have never really been eye-popping, when you look at the overall picture, Fitzgerald and second-year coordinator Jeff Genyk use special teams not so much as a way to turn the game, but more so to control it.
True, Fitzgerald has had some big-splash return men like Venric Mark and Solomon Vault in his time, but where he hangs his hat is more so on the unit as a whole. Sound tacklers on the coverage teams, technically sound punters who can put their defense in good field position, and long snappers who can faithfully execute the most important job they have.
So in reviewing the Special Teams, keep that in mind: the Wildcats were able to play more comfortably on defense and stay in games many times because of the solid execution they got from their special teams units. Because, as we’ve all heard, “stats are for losers,” and the Wildcats have won 15 of their last 16 regular season Big Ten football games. They know a thing or two about getting the job done.
The good
As we pointed out, Northwestern’s defense was able to play well, in large part due to the comfortable field position afforded to them. The punt coverage unit did well, allowing just 26% of their 79 punts to be returned, for a minimal average, and there were no big returns against the ‘Cats last year.
Special teamers like Joe Bergin, Cameron Ruiz, Erik Mueller and a handful of others successfully corralled opposing return men from breaking through the Wildcat wall and potentially posing field-position peril.
Another good we saw was the next-man-up heroics from the placekickers. When Charlie Kuhbander was injured, Drew Luckenbaugh filled in and helped win the Nebraska game. When both were out for the Iowa game, punter Jake Collins turned into a clutch kicker when he needed to be to help win the game, and, ultimately, the Big Ten West division title.
And the best thing about Northwestern special teams was that they were very sound, doing all the little things right. Save for a few kickoffs that went out of bounds, their kicks were technically sharp and translated to success for the offensive and defense units.
Areas to improve
To borrow a Fitzism, the return game “wasn’t sexy” last year. In fact, it was downright tapioca. However this was more by design, as Fitzgerald and Genyk elected to take advantage of last year’s new fair-catch rule on kickoffs. On many drive-opening kicks, Kyric McGowan and Riley Lees strategically made the uncontested catch to give the Wildcats the ball at the 25-yard line.
Placekicking is also something that needs to be sharpened. Though Kuhbander was hampered with a lower body injury for part of the year, most of his four misses last year didn’t seem to be the result of his ailment. After having the best statistical season of any first-year Wildcat kicker in history in 2017, he slipped last year and seemed to have some mechanical issues. Even Luckenbaugh’s miss against Nebraska was bad. Given the nature of the Cardiac Cats, it would certainly bode well for this position to be back at full strength should game situation call for a clutch kicker.
What it comes down to
One word: consistency. Consistency in the kicking game is what will make this team a success. The Wildcats need to find a punter who can be as reliable as Hunter Niswander and Collins have been the last four years and hang a kick long enough in the air to allow the coverage team to surround the opposing return man and force a surrender.
They also need steady output from their placekicker. Kuhbander is said to be 100% and looks poised to rebound from a sophomore slump. He’ll need to be because Northwestern has had six games in the last two years decided by a field goal or less.
And tackling must continue to be their foundation. With more speed in the game, the job of the defender is a bit more challenging if they aren’t fundamentally sound in their tackling technique.
Position breakdowns
The following positions are listed in order from greatest perceived strength to most glaring weakness.
Long Snapper
Ask Fitzgerald about the most important position on special teams and he’ll tell you it’s the long-snapper. This player starts the execution of the punt, field goal and PAT teams; and any of those areas can be the difference between a win or a loss. The Cats bring back redshirt junior Tyler Gilliken (6-foot-2, 217 pounds), two-year snapper who won the job as a walkon two years ago and has drawn the praise of Fitzgerald ever since.
There have been no blocked punts or kicks during Gilliken’s tenure of service, and Northwestern’s kickers have had the 18th-best extra-point efficiency in the country a season ago.
While he’s been a beacon of consistency with his snaps, Gilliken has also gotten better each year at getting downfield to disrupt punt returners and even made tackles against Michigan State and Ohio State last season.
Redshirt sophomore Peter Snodgrass (6-foot, 215 pounds) will once again play the role of his backup.
Punter/Punt Coverage
We put this group next because of how well the squad executes the three components of snap, hang-time/precision punting inside the 20, and coverage. Of Northwestern’s 79 punts in 2018, only 21 were returned for a measly five yards per return. They netted 37.9 yards per punt, which is a respectable flip in field position.
Northwestern has had a history of strong punters, and Genyk is hoping one of these new guys will fill the role in similar fashion.
Though the Cats had four guys on the roster who were here in the spring, they brought in a fifth punter to make sure they secure the best man for the job. TCU grad-transfer Andrew David (5-foot-8, 185 pounds), averaged 37 yards per punt in two years’ service in Fort Worth. These numbers aren’t worthy of all-conference consideration, but given the schematics of the Wildcats’ coverage unit, they won’t need to be.
Fellow graduate senior Daniel Kubiuk (6-foot-1, 201 pounds), is the only one of the five competing punters who has punted in a game for NU, but both of those punts came in 2017 for a 36-yard average (long of 45). Fitzgerald mentioned Kubiuk, who has played quarterback, as well as baseball, during his career at Northwestern, as the possible starter.
Redshirt sophomore Cody Gronewold (6-foot-1, 183 pounds) was projected to be the guy going into fall camp last season but has yet to see any game action. Gronewold was highly rated by the Kohl’s Kicking Academy after a solid senior year in high school and will look to show he’s got the right stuff in 2019.
Redshirt first-year walk-on Jake Genyk (6-foot-3, 205 pounds, and Jeff’s son), and first-year early enrollee Trey Finison will also get work, looking to earn a chance at getting some swings in game action.
Whoever is kicking will have the luxury of a well-conditioned and disciplined coverage team that is good at tackling. Redshirt senior Joe Bergin (5-foot-11, 190 pounds), who was recently awarded the coveted No. 1 jersey, leads the charge. He made 12 total special teams tackles last year, including multiple stops against Notre Dame and Minnesota, and earned Special Teams Player of the Week Award against Wisconsin and Rutgers. Sophomore Cameron Ruiz (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) was another standout who made a name for himself on punt coverage.
Placekicker
Junior Charlie Kuhbander (6-foot, 185 pounds) had an inspiring first year, but followed that with an injury-riddled sophomore struggle. He only connected on five of his nine field-goal attempts with a long of 45 against Michigan. He missed four games with that lower body injury and on several occasions prompted Fitzgerald to go for it on fourth-down inside the red zone.
In his stead, redshirt junior Drew Luckenbaugh (6-foot-1, 188 pounds) became the hero after the team’s thrilling comeback win against Nebraska in Evanston last year. In a last-minute decision, he filled in for the hobbled Kuhbander, and, in addition to hitting a field goal in regulation, he hit the game-winning 37-yarder in overtime to defeat the Huskers. In total, he connected on three field goals, with a long of 37 yards, and six PATs for the season.
There’s also Trey Finison (5-foot-9, 170 pounds), a true freshman early enrollee from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who also attended Kohl’s Kicking Academy. Finison was 8 for 10 on FGs during his senior year, with a long of 50 yards, and four that came from 47 or beyond.
Collectively, three NU kickers last year went 10-16 (63%) on three-point kicks, which was the second-lowest mark in the Big Ten. They did go 39 of 40 on PAT attempts, but even that one miss drew the ire of the staff.
We expect Kuhbander to be back and better, and this position should return to reliability.
Kick Return
The Wildcats only returned 17 kickoffs for an average of 21 yards (6th in the Big Ten). The low number was due to the calculated experiment with the new fair-catch rule on kickoffs. Toward the latter part of the season, the staff started to get a bit more aggressive and allowed junior Kyric McGowan (5-foot-10, 200 pounds) to field and return some kicks. In total, McGowan had 13 returns for a 24-yard average and a long of 39.
Dependable redshirt junior Riley Lees (6-foot, 201 pounds) will also start back on kick returns, but don’t be surprised to see one of the speed guys at receiver to push for opportunity as Lees becomes a more valuable weapon on offense.
Punt Return
Opponents punted to Northwestern 75 times last season, with the Wildcats returning just 24 of them for an average of six yards per return (9th in the Big Ten). Fitzgerald is okay with this stat – he would rather get the ball to his offense with no chance of a turnover and no risk to his return man.
Lees gives NU a reputable threat as a return man. He carried a 9.8-yard average on just eight returns in 2017, but he saw that number drop almost in half to 5.4 in 2018, on 20 punts (long of 16). He has a good set of hands, some shake and sizzle, as well as confidence and courage in his craft. Fitzgerald says Lees has worked relentlessly to hone this craft and that they have great trust in him.
Kickoffs/Kickoff Coverage
Kickoffs have been somewhat of a conundrum for the Cats the last couple seasons. Most Wildcat kickers cannot get the ball consistently into the endzone. Many kickoffs go to the goal line, giving the return men the opportunity to set his team up in good field position.
On 44 kickoffs last year, the Cats allowed an average of 12.9 yards per return, which was 12th in the conference. Their net yardage on kickoffs was 11th in the conference, and they had the fewest touchbacks (eight) in the Big Ten.
Luckenbaugh handled kickoff duties for half the season and looks to compete for that job full-time in 2019 with Kuhbander.
Luckenbaugh had 31 kickoffs for an average of 54 yards per kick in 2018, with seven touchbacks. Kuhbander had a higher kickoff average of 60 yards per kick with just one touchback, though he only kicked off six times all season. We believe the staff would like to split their concentrations and have one be the placekicker (Kuhbander) and the other handle kickoffs (Luckenbaugh).
Simply put, it would be beneficial to have someone to consistently kick touchbacks and give the coverage unit some help. But if the leg isn’t there, the tackling must be and the Cats did a pretty good job at that, led by Bergin, junior Erik Mueller (6-foot-2, 230 pounds) and redshirt sophomore Peter McIntyre.
Placeholder
As solid as the long-snapping has been at NU the past few seasons, the success of the point-kicking game is more dependent on the placement of the ball from its placeholder. Our expectation is for the sure-handed Lees (a former QB) to get the opportunity to secure this position after Collins’ graduation leaves it open.
Not only does Lees have steady mitts, but he also makes for an interesting option in the game of special teams “trickeration.” We know that Fitzgerald and his staff likes to tinker with these options. Kubiuk and backup QB T.J. Green are other options here.
