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I could be wrong but the last one I remember was RDA4 on NY Eve 2011 in the Liberty Bowl. We all remember 2009 Mardy Gilyard in Pittsburgh.

We long time fans remember the great Tinker Keck did 2 in 1 game and 4 in his 2 years at UC.

Am I missing a more recent one?

This year's team has the best special teams play since the Brian Kelly era. The last two coaches were abysmal at kickoffs on both sides of the ball. It was almost like they never practiced a kickoff even once.

At least 2-3 times this year we've been really close to breaking a TD return all the way. It should happen sometime this year.

Tre almost broke one Saturday night, took it over the 50. I'm betting he gets a couple before his career is out.

You know, if we don't I'm perfectly OK with Gardner pick 6-ing.

Our kickoff coverage is going to be very important the next two games. Memphis has been destroying people with returns this year. We have done a great job so far this year. Stevenson of Houston has been dangerous and we did a great job shutting him down on returns.

Teams have gotten so good at covering punts and kicks that you don't see nearly as many returns anymore. Most of the time on average you're just better off taking the touchback and starting at the 25.

I hate to jinx him before our biggest games but I'm very impressed with Montgomery as a freshman not having any issues with catching or fumbling the ball. You can blame me when he has 2 in our remaining games.

No question, special teams have shown dramatic improvement under this staff. I too think we'll see Tre break a kickoff return for a TD yet this year and it really couldn't come at a better time given the importance of ALL remaining games.

In the last game thread, I mentioned how strong our kicking has quietly gotten and of course, everybody knows about Smith being an excellent punter. But the truth is aside from maybe a blocked FG attempt or two early on, the entire special teams have been largely outstanding. In fact, you could argue that it is the overall strongest unit on the team over both the offense and the defense. Plenty of credit to go around, but a lot of it has to go to Brian Mason. Heckuva a nice job from a guy who some may have derided for being just a grad assistant before joining the staff.

They've to their credit shifted quite a few pieces around on the offensive line on the fg tries after the early debacles. Crosa must have wondered what he got himself into early in the year. The blocking in the middle of the line was non existent. We had guys on that offensive line who reacted to a snap as if it was a walk thru. It was bad as anything i've seen at this level of football.

(11-19-2019 05:25 PM)dsquare Wrote:  They've to their credit shifted quite a few pieces around on the offensive line on the fg tries after the early debacles. Crosa must have wondered what he got himself into early in the year. The blocking in the middle of the line was non existent. We had guys on that offensive line who reacted to a snap as if it was a walk thru. It was bad as anything i've seen at this level of football.

And Crosa is a great story now, isn't he? Wonder if someone told him one year ago that he'd win a pair of road games for a top 25 team next season if he ever would have believed it? College football makes for great story lines.

(11-18-2019 07:08 PM)doss2 Wrote:  I could be wrong but the last one I remember was RDA4 on NY Eve 2011 in the Liberty Bowl. We all remember 2009 Mardy Gilyard in Pittsburgh.

We long time fans remember the great Tinker Keck did 2 in 1 game and 4 in his 2 years at UC.

Am I missing a more recent one?

Does it count if it's a blocked extra point attempt returned for a touchdown?

My high school football team would spend almost as much time in practice on special teams as we did on offense or defense. The coach told us that we would win 1 game because of our focus on special teams, and we would Not Lose a second game due to not screwing up.

I think the Bearcats just won a game primarily due to special teams play.

With the low rolling Temple kicker returns were too risky to touch.