It’s the forgotten phase of the game. Most people pay special teams lip service, but don’t really notice them until something goes wrong.
For Missouri, plenty has gone wrong on the third phase of the game over the last two weeks. There was a blocked field goal that gave Purdue momentum before halftime leading to a touchdown that made Missouri’s 40-37 game a nip-and-tuck affair for the final 30 minutes. Then there was a blocked punt for a touchdown that gave Georgia a 27-7 lead and had Missouri playing catch-up the rest of the day in a 43-29 loss to the Bulldogs two weeks ago.
“One guy on both counts,” special teams coordinator Andy Hill said. “There’s not like, ‘hey my bad we’ll push the restart button.’ There’s one chance every time we go out there and you’ve got to do your job.”
The Tigers spent plenty of time on special teams during the extra bye week practices they were afforded. They’ll return to the field on Saturday at South Carolina and there’s likely not another game all year where special teams could be so significant.
The Gamecocks feature return man Deebo Samuel and Tiger fans know from first-hand experience what he can do on special teams.
“I’ve seen it,” head coach Barry Odom said. “He can change the dynamics of a game. There’s high alert in every situation.”
Odom was referring to the 2017 game between the teams. Missouri had taken a 10-0 lead on a 61-yard touchdown pass from Drew Lock to Jason Reese and had all the momentum in the world in a critical week two tilt in the SEC East. And then the Tigers made the mistake of kicking the ball to Samuel.
Samuel ran that kickoff back 97 yards. South Carolina intercepted Lock on Missouri’s next offensive play. Samuel took a jet sweet 25 yards for a touchdown. Two plays, 122 yards and 15 seconds turned a 10-0 lead into a 14-10 deficit. Missouri would not lead again and would lose its next four games after South Carolina left town.
Samuel hasn’t busted loose yet this year. He has four kickoff returns for 95 total yards. The Gamecocks as a team rank 66th in the country, averaging 21 yards per return. But the threat is ever-present.
“There’s times that there’s not much there and he ends up making a play,” Odom said. “You better be selective on picking your moments on where you’re kicking the ball. If you feel like you’re going to kick it on where he’s lined up, I would rather it go in row five behind the end zone than him have an opportunity to catch it.”
Missouri flirted with disaster a couple times on kickoff returns against Georgia. Mecole Hardman, a similar player to Samuel, returned three kickoffs for 91 yards and was inches away from doing far more damage a couple of times.
The Tigers’ own kick return unit has been solid, if not spectacular, this year with freshman Tyler Badie returning four kickoffs for 100 total years. Odom called it Missouri’s best special teams unit so far.
The worst has been the Tigers’ punt return team. Four returns have netted minus-11 yards. No team has gained fewer (lost more) yardage on punt returns than Missouri.
“We’re not very good right now,” Hill said.
“We’re not getting really anything productive out of that unit right now and that’s a challenge we’ve got to get fixed,” Odom added.
Odom said the goal is to average a first down for the offense on each punt return.
“We’re not even close yet.”
Missouri had hoped to get a boost in the return game this week with the return of Richaud Floyd from a leg injury suffered in preseason camp. Floyd still may be available, but early signs are not encouraging.
“I don’t know that he’s game speed ready but he looked a lot better today than he did on Sunday night,” Odom said. “If he makes that jump again between now and Wednesday or Thursday then we may be looking at an opportunity that he can go help us as well.”
"I mean he’s not where he needs to be,” offensive coordinator Derek Dooley said after watching Floyd in practice on Tuesday. “He’s just starting his road back.”
If Floyd can’t go, the return duties will likely remain in the hands of Johnathon Johnson, who has lost 11 yards in his two returns this year.
“I’m very confident in any job I got,” the junior said. “If the gunners block then my job is easy. I’m just gonna catch the ball and do what I do with it.”
Disaster hasn’t struck Missouri on a punt return. It has taken care of job one, which is catching the ball. Job two has proven more difficult.
“Obviously we’ve got to have a guy back there who can make good decisions and then do something with it when we catch it,” Hill said. “Then we’ve got to do a better job of holding up when we do have a return called.”
South Carolina is a two-point favorite on Saturday. It is, by just about any measure, a toss-up game. Games like that often come down to a special teams play. If Missouri is going to be the team to make that play, it’s going to have to flip the script of the last couple of years.
