2007 Spring Update: Grading Special Teams

As spring practice unwinds, WarhawkNation takes a look back at how the ULM special teams fared. Who will take over the long snapper duties and now that Kevin Payne is gone, is Scott Love ready to be a full time punter?

Now that spring practice has come and gone, WarhawkNation takes a look back at how the ULM special teams performed. The Warhawks lost long snapper Cody Bauman and punter Kevin Payne to graduation and the NFL. ULM does return athlete Darrell McNeal as punt returner and Cole Wilson and Ragan Walters as place kickers.

Losing DB Kevin Payne to the NFL might not hurt ULM too much in the secondary but it will take its toll on the punting game. Sophomore Scott Love is now listed as the lone punter on the ULM depth chart. Love got some valuable experience last year when he filled in for injured Kevin Payne.

Scott punted the ball 5 times last year for an average of 36.8 yards. If not for a 21 yard shank against North Texas, that average would have been a much more respectable 41 yards per punt. Watching Scott this spring, he seemed to struggle at times with his mechanics and timing.

Most of his kicks were the short line drive variety that return men love to see. The good news is this is just spring and Scott has all summer strengthen his leg and fine tune his punting skills. Given the time Love will do a fine job punting for the Warhawks this coming season.

Grade: C

As mentioned before Louisiana Monroe will have to replace long snapper Cody Bauman and so far it doesn't look good. Trying to get the job done right now are converted DL Cecil Pollack and OL Patrick Avinger. Both have struggled mightily getting the ball back to holder Chance Payne. Bad snaps in the spring scrimmages as well as the spring game led to several blocked fg's.

Although this is spring, it will be a major concern for Warhawk fans this fall. Getting a good snap back for an extra point or fg try can mean the difference in a win and a loss. Two point losses are something that haunted ULM last year against teams like Kentucky and Kansas.

Grade: D

Of all the special team categories, the one that should be the most consistent this season will be place kicker. The start of the 2006 season saw a kicker by committee role until Cole Wilson stepped up and grabbed it for good. There is no doubt he has the strongest leg on the team and last year hit on 6/6 kicks from 40-49 yards.

Cole struggled a bit in the early scrimmages but a lot of that was due to not getting a clean snap thus resulting in a bad hold. When the ball was fielded and placed well Wilson drilled it through the uprights. Cole put an exclamation mark in the spring game when he boomed a 45 yard fg down the middle with plenty to spare.

Grade: B+

Warhawks fans will be able to breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to punt return and kick off returns. Darrell McNeal will field punt returns while Calvin Dawson and McNeal will return kick offs. One thing the Warhawks need to work on is better punt return coverage. Although McNeal didn't lose a punt in 2006, he only averaged 5.2 yards a return which was last in the SBC.

Warhawk fans might also see a couple of new faces returning kicks and punts in 2007. Seeing action in the spring game were defensive backs Darrius Battles and Greg James. Walk on Al Lewis might have gained some playing time as well with his performance in the spring game.

Grade: B

Stay tuned to WarhawkNation as we break down the offensive and defensive spring performances in the weeks to come.