After struggling on special teams in 2013, the ASU football team put a renewed focus into the unit for this season. But through two games, the Sun Devils have not shown improvement in the area, and may have actually regressed overall.
In ASU's first game of the season against Weber State, coach Todd Graham was not pleased with the play of his special teams unit, specifically sophomore punter Matt Haack.
“I really was disappointed obviously on how we punted the football," Graham said after last week's game. "Matt (Haack) has been good, Matt’s a great punter, and he’s going to be a great punter. He just had a bad night. I’ve never seen him punt the ball like that, but we believe in him. He’s going to be fine.”
In addition to Haack's struggles, senior kicker Alex Garoutte struggled on kickoffs, including kicking one out of bounds.
During the week, Wednesday specifically, Graham was upset during special teams practice during the media portion of practice, saying that they were not on the level they needed to be. On Saturday, the Sun Devils proved him right.
Special teams was the decisive weak point on the field against New Mexico. Sophomore kicker Zane Gonzalez missed a field goal, a rare sight since his arrival on campus, and had two extra points blocked, one of which was returned by New Mexico for two points.
Also, while returning a punt, redshirt senior Demarious Randall let the ball go through his hands for a fumble. While Randall was able to recover the ball immediately, the lack of focus on catching could hurt in the future.
While the team has preached improvement on the special teams unit, the Sun Devils have not shown that they have gotten better. Despite the amount of starters that play on the unit, special teams should not be as large of a concern as it is.
While Garoutte improved, Haack averaged just over 30 yards per punt, which is not where he needs to be for conference play. The blocking on the special teams unit needs to give Gonzalez time to kick, especially for extra points.
ASU will need to show more than it did in Albuquerque on Saturday if the team wants to prove that the unit has, in fact, improved from last season.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Tonis_The_Tiger
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