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MSU's Lowe adjusts to life in the fast lane
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Rmun Offline
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<a href='http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041008/SPORTS030102/410080345' target='_blank'>http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll...30102/410080345</a>

By Ian R. Rapoport
irapopor@clarionledger.com

STARKVILLE — The first thing he does is look at the punter's foot. That's Jonathan Lowe's first clue.

Then he watches the gunners, then the nose of the football bearing down on him, then back to the gunners. And in three seconds, he must decide whether or not to let the punt fall, to fair-catch it or to run with it.

Based on a convergence of factors, at a speed that's way faster than anything he's used to, Lowe makes his choice. Then the Mississippi State freshman has to live with the consequences.

With the vulnerable job of punt and kick returner, it's safe to say Lowe has had an interesting few weeks.

"A lot of people would say it's asking a lot of a freshman," Lowe said. "But I came in with confidence, so it's not too much. It's just been tough to judge, do you have a chance to make the first guy miss or are you about to get de-cleated."

Out in the open for all to see, with a task that requires full concentration just to catch the ball, it is a lot to ask of a freshman.

At first, the coaches just asked him to return punts. But the flashes of potential became so bright that they couldn't help but have him take over for senior Fred Reid as the primary kick returner.

In some ways, Lowe, a 5-foot-7, 165-pounder, has responded. He ranks fourth in the SEC in yards per punt return with 9.5. That figures with his bloodlines. His father Eddie and his uncle Woodrow each played for Alabama in the 1970s. Woodrow also played in the NFL for 12 seasons.

When Lowe catches the punts, he's electric. But he struggles with when to do it.

Against Maine, for instance, he returned only two of eight punts, though one was for 21 yards. Catching the punts cleanly has been trying.

He says dealing with the criticism has been tough.

But the challenge of it, he loves. How, on a kickoff, he'll run for a crease in the coverage only to have it disappear. Or how virtually every game experience on the college level is new to him.

"It's a job," said Lowe, a Phenix City, Ala., native. "You can enjoy your job, but at the same time, it's a challenge. I don't think a job is worth having if it's not challenging."

The first time he returned a punt against Tulane, he ran it 24 yards. Since then, coach Sylvester Croom has been coaching Lowe.

That stopped this week, as Croom noted Lowe performed much better when Amos Jones coached him. Against Vanderbilt, with Lowe 50 yards from the line of scrimmage, many punts dropped in front of him and he returned just two of seven punts.

"He did a much better job without me," Croom said. "But we do have to do a much better job on our coaching of punt returns."

There will always be room for second-guessing. Even Reid — as experienced as they come returning kicks — tried to field one inside his end zone against Vanderbilt. He was eventually downed at the 2, the team punted, and Vanderbilt scored.

"That was a critical mental error," Croom said.

Which will happen. As for Lowe, whatever exerience he gets this year will help him for the next three years.

"Next year, I'll know what to expect," he said. "If I have to say, I think I'm doing a pretty good job. But there's always room for improvement."
10-08-2004 06:36 PM
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UAB's Linebacker Coach Woodrow Lowe is his uncle.
10-08-2004 06:48 PM
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