i think it is a combination of problems..first of all there is absolutely no blocking at all up front..second how in the world can we expect three guys to hold back six that have a full head of steam and the three guys are standing about three yards in front of the punter..i have watched a couple of game films and timed the punter from when he catches it to when he gets it off and he is averaging right around 2.5 seconds...not sure how you can get much faster than that unless you just one step and punt but there goes your distance..one thing i think is really funny but annoying is the fact that you never hear anything good about the punter when things do go right..his average may not be the greatest but if you really understand football you will see that about 50% of his punts have been inside the 20 and he has only had 4 or 5 touchbacks..if you think about it maybe it just wasn't the punter's fault..i mean you put in a 5th year senior that has been in pressure situations like Frank said and he still fumbles the snap that maybe the snaps aren't as good as you think..just because they hit them around the waste line doesn't mean they aren't coming back there like a knuckleball..i am not trying to single anyone out because unlike most of the fans around me lastnight i can keep in the back of my mind that these kids are still 19 or 20 years old and can possibly have a bad game every once in awhile..so next time we think about pointing fingers maybe we should remember that they are someones child and probably deserve some respect ..(i'm sure we wouldn't want someone talking negative about our kids)..if our coach was half the coach the guys around me were lastnight we would be undefeated and there wouldn't be any miscues at all..i think we could encourage our players a little more since they are still 8-2 even though they had a total TEAM loss lastnight and all they can do now is come back next week and take it out on Ball State

On TV last night they said we had given up something like 27 yards in punt returns ON THE SEASON.  If that is true, I guess the wide splits and formation is so we can cover the punt very well and not give up any type of return.  This experiment seems to suggest you can't have both protection and great coverage, at least not without a long snapper who can fire the ball back and a punter who can catch and get it off his foot quickly.

This ain't intramurals. I think we heard plenty about how good Zastudil was when he was punting. It's a great weapon if you can have someone that can change field position. Takes a ton of pressure off the defense.
Ranking 84th out of 90 in punting (entering this week) is downright brutal.

Penn State
4-1 O30    53 (ret -1)     (between 20&15)
4-14 P36  touchback
4-2 O49    38 (ret 0) fumbled (between 15&10)
4-3 O25    blocked, led to TD

NM State
4-11 O47   42 (downed)  (between 15&10)
4-13 O22   21 (downed)

Marshall
4-9 O46    47 (ret 8)  (between 10&5)
4-6 O30    36 (fc)
4-3 O44    52 (downed) (inside 5)
4-6 O12    37 (ret 6)
4-6 O47    47 (ret 10) (between 10&5)
4-9 O9      39 (fc)

Norfolk St.
4-6 N48   35 (ret 0) (between 15&10)
4-13 N48  31 (fc) (between 20&15)
4-1 O44   47 (downed) wiped out by penalty (would have been inside 10)
4-4 O42   41 (ret 0) fumbled (between 20&15)
4-8 O27   4 (downed)

UMass
4-9 O27    55 (fc) (between 20&15)
4-9 O21    44 (fc)
4-6 O30    40 (ret -1)

Buffalo
4-17 O48   36 (fc) (between 20&15)
4-3 O49   36 (ret 0) fumbled (at 15)
4-8 O31    blocked 28
4-4 B36    24 (fc) (between 15&10)

Akron
4-15 A40   40 touchback
4-6 O47    47 (ret 3) (between 10&5)
4-6 O20    50 (ret 0)
4-2 O33    45 (fc)

Miami
4-8 O22   32 (fc)
4-3 50      50 touchback
4-9 O29   28 (out of bounds)
4-13 O48  51 (downed) (inside 5)
4-10 M45  45 touchback
4-1 O35    44 (fc)
4-19 M39  32 (downed) (between 10&5)
4-9 O44   31 (out of bounds)

EMU
4-8 O25    27 (out of bounds)
4-5 O46    36 (fc) (between 20&15)
4-1 O30    44 (ret 3)

BG
4-9 O37   48 (fc) (at 15)
4-8 O28   blocked
4-8 B49   34 (ret 5) wiped out by penalty
4-25 B49  38 (fc) (between 15&10)
4-18 O31 runs for 4 after dropped snap
4-4 O40    blocked
4-6 B49    33 (fc) (between 20&15)
4-9 O39    37 (fc)

Where does he not deserve criticism? Of his inside the 20s, only 6 have landed inside the 10. And it's not like he hasn't had good chances to pin teams in deep, 10 punts from opponents territory to just 3 inside his own 20. 1 in 11 punts is getting blocked. Unacceptable at any level.

I didn't jump ugly on him after the PSU game or even the Buffalo game. He practiced (redshirt) for a full season last year and is 10 games into this year. At some point you need to produce.

So then why is our scheme so focused on coverage if we have a major liability punting the ball? He doesn't have a powerful leg, so he's not really going to out-kick the coverage.

Give him more protection so that he can focus more on kicking the ball and less on worrying about it getting blocked.

So if Grant reverted to a 3-step punt, then it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect the coach to make an in-game adjustment, instructing linemen to close those wide spacings...

Mike, you don't change the whole punt scheme mid-game.  The scheme is used by lots of schools.  Execution, settle the man down, pat him on the back give him another chance, nooooo please, well back-up guy, Matt next man up, what the hey, my kingdom for a decent snap, mother of god, Germano said this was easy, anybody have his number? 

I saw a three step approach on the first kick.  I assume that about 15,000 or so others did, also.

Do you think that the coaches should notice that since there are many of them, they are fulltime employed to coach football and they have replay video instantly available?  (I'm not saying that they did not notice...I assume that they instantly did...but if they didn't, there's a big problem...)

And it continues....


Via Arkley on Twitter:

"If we can just snap the ball, and catch the ball, then we'll be better," -- Solich in regards to his punt team.

Good call Frank. Pin the embarrassing performance last week on two first year players while your staff continues to put them in a position to fail.

I don't know why you would say that because, while we can debate the cause of the two blocks, clearly half the four incidents wee caused by a failure to properly snap and catch the ball. If they could have properly snapped and caught the ball, clearly they would have been better off. As for the other 2, I personally don't know the problem. For all I know, any or all of the following may have contributed:
slow snap speed
predictable snap count
taking too long to catch and kick the ball
3 steps versus 2
wide formation
blockers not holding blocks long enough prior to heading downfield for coverage

Except as a casual observer, I don't have much knowledge of the art of punting. I do find it interesting that while some people who have posted on this thread do claim to have punted, their input has largely been disregarded. My best guess is that the "fix", outside of trying to work on snapping and catching, and stepping properly, will be to have the blockers try to hold blocks longer, with the result that we'll see more return yardage.

Well get ready guys!! Its BAAAACK! The punt formation that launched a thousand panic attacks returns this Fall. 

Per Arkley today:

"Critics of Ohio's punt style — a wide-split front line with a three-man 'shield' in front of the punter — should get used to it. The formation will be the Bobcats' basic punt formation again this season. The Bobcats have yet to begin working on kick-offs and kick-off returns, but seniors Travis Carrie and Mario Dovell, and sophomore Daz Patterson have been getting the bulk of the reps on punt returns."

m.athensohiotoday.com/blogs/bobcat_blog/ohio-football-camp-practice-no/article_00c6ef24-9542-5861-b525-5e05d5f5395b.html

Ughhhhh. That was the worst formation. Why????

So if you are a long-snapper and a punter, here is your practice itinerary for every day of camp:

1. Snap the ball
2. Catch the ball
3. Punt the ball
4. Repeat