Helton has been punting quite well this year, but he got hurt in the Auburn game. The guy that went in wearing Helton's #38 was Alleman, a reserve kicker. Les didn't want to risk Helton's recovery and gave the reserve a shot, but who knows why Les has them use the same number. Jasper went in to pooch punt and dropped it inside the 5, which was excellent punting.
Helton is Jeckyl and Hyde. We'll need better punting against Bama. Come to think of it though, might be a way to keep Arenas in check...19 yd punts.:lol: - It's amazing to me though. When you need a 45 yarder to pin them deep, he hits it 20. When a 35 yarder will do the trick, he hits it 50.:huh:
Ahh, ok b/c I noticed a few bad ones from the AU game to this one. Wondering what the deal was. I have a feeling the Bama game with rely a lot on special teams play.
First of all, I didn't know that Helton wasn't in last night. - Second of all, Helton was NOT punting quite well this year. Don't know what you were watching. He had SOME good punts, but had his share of awful punts this year, too. VERY inconsistant.
Hell, yes. Particularly in punt/kickoff returns and punt/kickoff coverage. In fact, punter (and for a while, deep snapper ) has been the only real question on ST.
I'm not sure what you are watching. I guess the bad punts completely negate the very good ones. LSU is 3rd in net punting in the SEC at about 36.5 yards per punt. 50th in the nation, but the 25th team punts at 37.7 yards per. Not a big difference there. Kickers always get a very bad rap from the fanbase. Punts remembered are never good ones.
Meh - I'm with Fishy. Helton hasn't been consistent enough. And, because field position is such a huge factor, I don't really go by stats with punters. I'm more interested in, punt for punt, are we helping the defense out?
Actually, it's just a pet peeve of mine. If you look thru the stats, Helton has a couple of games where his long is 50+, but in that same game, his average is 30 something. Here's where the pet peeve part comes in. His 50 yarder goes thru the friggin endzone! Net? 30. It boggles my mind. What happened to the coffin corner?? And the ones that bring his average down are the 19 yarders...which is ridiculous for a D-1 punter...especially a JUCO guy with experience. Those 19 yarders are happening with little pressure, and when we need a solid 40 yd punt. - You said good punts are never remembered. Name one. I bet if it was one of Helton's "good punts", it was a touchback.
