Re: Punt formation? I watched 4 games yesterday (and a few plays during commercials of a couple more) and I didn't see anyone else using anything similar to that punt formation. I heard somewhere that Miles said it is the hot new punt formation sweeping the country, but I don't see anyone else using it. I can't see even 1 advantage to using it over the regular formation.
Re: Punt formation? While that is very true, I was joking about Jimbo being the root of most of the dumb calls.
Re: Punt formation? Special teams have cost us once this season and if we keep this formation I can't imagine that we won't get another punt blocked. I just don't understand why we want 3 guys getting a full head of steam to kill our three blockers in front of Jackson.
Re: Punt formation? Looking like it will be blocked is not the same as being blocked, obviously.The new formation really hasn't gotten any more blocked punts than the old one did. It looks kind of scary, but I'm getting used to it. Jackson doesn't appear to be intimidated by the rushing guys. If nobody screws up, they can block both the rushing linemen and the speedy outside guys. But the entire reason for the rugby formation is that it was supposed to get players downfield quicker to tackle the punt returner. I haven't seen that it is doing this especially well. LSU is #102 out of 119 Division I-A teams in net punting. Jackson is punting well, but we are allowing too many returns including some big returns. Because three men can block three rushers if you have good men there. And on those punts where the opponent doesn't go for the block (most punts), those three blocking backs can immediately sprint downfield to get on the punt returner because they are not entangled or knocked down on the line.
Re: Punt formation? our second set of blockers are standing right in front of the punter. All the defensive players have to do is jump and the punt is blocked. There is no room for error. Dumbest thing I have ever seen. Stick with the formation used in the NFL. Cant find the strategy behind it. If anyone can tell me what the rationalization is behind this formation please do. There has to be something more than "it is whats sweeping the nation."
Re: Punt formation? Well, it allows us to get penalized nearly every game. Maybe that's to displace blame on the special teams coach or players during bad games...
Re: Punt formation? In my opinion, Jackson doesn't look as comfortable back there, and this is evidenced by the way his punts come out. His punts no longer have great hang time, and definitely don't spiral and turnover. I repeat my statement from earlier this season. If you lead the SEC in punting one year, and what you are doing is clearly working, why change something that isn't broken? And further Coach, if all the rage is to go BASE jumping, will you take your entire team BASE jumping, just cause its the hot thing to do right now? For someone who is all hard-headed about his offense and won't use a formation that doesn't include at least one FB and 7 TEs, why did he get all loosey-goosey with this horrific punt formation? 2005 Net Punting Stats 2006 SEC Punting Statistics Stat Summary 2005 Avg 40.87 with Net Avg 38.97 2006 Avg 39.4 with Net Avg 33.8 Based upon these stats, clearly we are not covering punts nearly as well as we did last year.
Re: Punt formation? My opinion is that more teams are attempting to block punts when we are in this formation.
Re: Punt formation? Did you watch the Florida game? Florida uses it. So does Oregon. And fans at both schools are still uncomfortable with the way it lets three rushers get close to the punter. Oregon had four punts blocked last year under the old formation and they needed to try something new. Their punter doesn't like the new formation because he gets spooked by the rushers, even though there is a blocker there for each of them, but the coaches think it protects the punter while letting them get quicker coverage downfield. I think LSU is committed to it this year, but if it ends up underperforming, it will be changed again next year. LSU has gone from highly ranked in net punting to very low-ranked. But it isn't all about the punt formation, we are missing a lot of tackles.
Re: Punt formation? Explain how two guys standing 10 yards further back that can't leave until the punter kicks the ball are going to get downfield faster. It also allows rushers to come at a more shallow angle, or right up the middle, since you have less blockers on the line to force them wide. But hell, we changed something and showed that the coaches are open to new things even if they don't make a lick of sense and sticking with it after it is a proven screw up shows they won't admit a mistake either. Way to FIX something that wasn't broken guys. The fans are already chanting when they line up in this stupid way and the sportswriters should keep asking about it. Let's see where the line between stubborn and stupid is.
