Special Teams – Kickoff / Kickoff Return

FOOTBALL

Dawg fans saw both Blair Walsh and Brandon Bogatay kickoff during the opening game last Saturday. Bogatay make three kicks and averaged 66.3 yards per kick, he had one downed in the end zone. Walsh kicked six times averaging 63.8 yards per kick and also had one touchback.

Although Bogatay averaged kicking the ball a little deeper, Walsh got more hang time on his kicks allowing the coverage team to get down the field.

The rumblings coming from both spring and fall camp that changes concerning the way kick coverage would be approached this season were certainly evident during the game. Starters on defense and offense were not exempt from special teams.

The kickoff team consisted of (left to right) senior starting cornerback Vance Cuff, red-shirt sophomore cornerback Sanders Commings, junior linebacker Marcus Dowtin, true freshman fullback Alexander Ogletree and junior safety Nick Williams on the left side of the ball.

On the right side, (right to left) red-shirt freshmen cornerback Jordan Love and safety Shawn Williams, senior cornerback Chad Gloer, senior linebacker Akeem Hebron and junior fullback Josh Sailors.

The kickoff return team only fielded two kicks during the game. Boykin had 31 yards on one Allen 24 on the other.

The front five consisted of (left to right) junior starting safety Jakar Hamilton, Nick Williams, sophomore linebacker Michael Gilliard, Sanders Commings and Shawn Williams.

The next three were sophomore wide receiver Marlon Brown on the left side, senior fullback Fred Munzenmaier in the middle and senior walk-on tightend Derek Rich on the right side.

The three deep were senior starting fullback Shaun Chapas on the left side, red-shirt sophomore walk-on fullback Cameron Allen on the right side and junior starting cornerback Brandon Boykin set for his second season as the primary kick returner.

Boykin had 988 yards on 38 kickoff returns last season, he returned three for touchdowns establishing school records in all three categories.

He became the first player in SEC history to have two 100 yard touchdown returns in the same season, one against South Carolina and the other against Tennessee.