They are the guys that tend to be working out by themselves during practice.

They are the guys that almost always get overshadowed by the players on offense and defense.

They are the guys on the special teams unit.

And it’s a unit that the Sun Devils are hoping will take a step forward in 2009.

“It’s definitely going to be an improvement on last year,” junior kicker Thomas Weber said. “Last year, we had a lot of letdowns. On punts and kickoffs, there were way too many return yards, and I don’t think the return guys feel they lived up to their full potential.”

Last season, the Sun Devils ranked eighth in the Pac-10 in kickoff returns (20.2 yard per return) and seventh in punting (33.8 yards per punt).

However, they ranked in the top half of the conference in kickoff coverage (third, 44.5 yards per kick), punt return average (15.0 yards per return) and field goals (.760 percentage).

Heading the special teams unit again this season will be Weber, who, by his own standards, had a down year in 2008 after winning the Groza Award as the nation’s top kicker in 2007.

He made 19 of his 25 field goals last season, one year removed from a 24-of-25 campaign in 2007.

“I definitely feel last year was definitely subpar,” Weber said.
“Looking back [at] last year, I let down the team and I let down the fans. There were certain things that I should have done last year, kicks I should have made in certain situations. This season, you can’t really guarantee anything, but I’ve been working really hard.”

Weber is also slated to handle the punting duties again this season after filling that role for the majority of 2007 and 2008. He averaged 41.4 yards per punt last season, which ranked fifth in the conference.

“Every year it just gets easier and easier,” Weber said. “If coach thinks I’m the best guy to do it, there’s no question about it — I’m going to do it. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do.”

Other specialists include sophomore long snapper Thomas Ohmart and junior punter Trevor Hankins, who will serve as the new holder on field goals.

Ohmart said that he, Weber and Hankins are close friends, which has helped them establish good on-field chemistry in the offseason.

“We have really been working on the snap to kick,” Ohmart said. “We’ve got that down, and it’s smooth. Punts I thought we had down pretty good last year.”

Senior Kyle Williams will return punts again this season after ranking first in the Pac-10 punt return average (17 yards per return) in 2008.
“I know Kyle wants to break it out this year,” Weber said.

Injury notes

Senior center Thomas Altieri returned to practice Thursday after leaving Wednesday’s workout with a concussion.

True freshman wide receiver Jamal Miles sprained his left ankle during Wednesday’s practice and was on crutches Thursday.

Senior tackle Tom Njunge (bicep), sophomore center Garth Gerhart (turf toe), sophomore guard Zach Schlink (knee) and sophomore defensive tackle Lawrence Guy (bicep) were among those projected starters that did not practice Thursday.

ASU will hold a mock game Friday night at Sun Devil Stadium. There will be no tackling, and the Sun Devils plan to use the workout to focus on specific game scenarios.

“[Friday] will be good for us, because we’ll put ourselves in a lot of different situations with officials,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “[We will] put ourselves in different situations using the clock on both sides of the football, and we need that.”

The Sun Devils will take Saturday off and will then start preparing for Idaho State on Sunday.

“You just get tired of going against each other all the time, and so what happens is mentally you’re not as sharp as you need to be the whole time,” Erickson said. “At least in the National Football League, you have a chance to play preseason games. Here, you’re going with the same guys for a month. We’re ready to play.”

Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.