Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Williams Won't Kick About Lack of Punts
10/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Tyler Williams says punting a football is much easier for him than thinking about punting a football.
That’s the difference for Marshall’s junior punter from last year to this unbeaten and nationally ranked season for the Herd.
It wasn’t one of those so-called sophomore slumps that plagued Williams last season, after he had set the Marshall record for punting average with a 45.19-yard average as a 2012 freshman.
It was two blocked punts – by Virginia Tech and Middle Tennessee – that went for touchdowns in close losses for the Herd that dogged Williams, whose averaged dropped to 42.2 last season.
Now, the Williams of two seasons ago is back.
His 47.6-yard average would rank second nationally if he had enough punts, but his 24 kicks are five short of the 3.6 per game the NCAA requires for qualification.
That’s what happens when you play for a team that has scored 49 touchdowns in eight games … and as a first-year place-kick holder, Williams has had a hand in 49 consecutive extra points.
"I don’t really change a whole, whole lot," the personable Williams said earlier this week when asked if he’s made adjustments since last season. "During a game, for instance, my whole job is to stay ready on offense, because it’s either a field goal, a PAT or we’re going to punt.
"So, I try to stay warm, kick into a net, get some holds from Matt (Cincotta, long snapper), some punt snaps from Matt. Keep my body loose because of any drive I can punt. When we’re on defense I usually watch, try to relax. I’m watching a little more, and that’s nice. Offensively, I’m staying loose the whole game whether I punt nine, two or 12 times. I need to be ready to go at any point."
Williams has 35 career punts of 50 or more yards, and the Fort Wayne, Ind., resident has nine boots of 60 or more yards, which ties Chris Hanson’s 1995-98 school mark for most at that distance. He’s pinned 34 punts inside opponents’ 20-yard line and has four of the school’s top 11 average games (all of 50.5 or more yards).
So, what was the kick-in-the-pants – so to speak – last season?
"A lot of it is just getting comfortable and being comfortable back there," Williams said. "In our punt scheme we had to change a few things. We had those two punts blocked (in 2013), so we had to change my steps and get the ball off faster. Last year, after Virginia Tech and Middle Tennessee, my thing was just getting the ball off faster, don’t worry about how far it goes, where it goes, just catch the ball and get the ball off as fast as I can.
"Then, I was a little worried about not getting a great punt as much as getting the punt off, not getting the blocked punt. I was a little more uncomfortable, because, two blocked punts for touchdowns, that’s a game-changer; you can’t have that. So, now that we’ve kind of got our punt scheme more figured out a bit – and the ‘rugby’ gives us a great avenue in case they want to rush everybody, or can result in a fake; we can run a couple of fakes off that.
"So, this year I’m more comfortable. I put a little more preparation in the offseason into my drops, making my steps shorter, my get-off faster, getting better at little things, and it’s resulted in better results, I guess."
In the final four games last season, Williams was superb. In wins over FIU and East Carolina and the Conference USA title game loss at Rice, he had seven punts of 50 or more yards. In the Herd’s Military Bowl victory over Maryland to cap a 10-4 season, four of Williams’ kicks left the Terps starting series from their 1, 5, 1 and 8.
Herd Coach Doc Holliday lauded Williams after that performance, as he does now.
"He’s done a great job," Holliday said. "One thing I felt is that he wasn’t as consistent last year as he was his freshman year, and I feel like that consistency is back. We’ve changed up some things on our punt from a year ago, and we’ve changed our block spots. We have several different block spots we execute right now, and he’s executing what we ask him to do and he’s punting the ball extremely well.
"He’s doing a great job of staying loose on the sidelines. Whatever he’s doing, he’s got to keep doing. Simply, he’s done what we ask him to do and he’s done a great job doing it."
In last Saturday’s victory over Florida Atlantic, Williams booted five times for a 51.4-yard average, the best average of his career. Every punt went at least 47 yards, with a long of 64. And although Williams doesn’t personally qualify for the national rankings, Marshall is No. 2 in team punting average, behind the 48.0 average of Idaho’s Austin Rehkow on 32 kicks in seven games.
"My get-off last year was probably around 2.0 or 2.1 (seconds), probably a little slower than I’d like it to be," Williams said. "The get-off is from the time Matt snaps the ball until the watch stops when it leaves my foot. This year, it’s more like 1.9 -- 2.1 is the slowest. My hang time is a bit better now, too. We emphasized that this spring, making the get-off quicker.
"In the Military Bowl, and even at Rice last year, we had reached the point where we had changed the punt scheme so we didn’t utilize getting so many missiles downfield. We tried to make sure everyone gets blocked. Getting the punt off was more important.
"In a sense, last year we had a lot more different schemes where we had four or five missiles getting downfield to stop returns. Now, we’re cut that back to three or four, just to the point where we block everybody … We haven’t changed much, but we have changed in that we make sure everyone is blocked now. We’re using missiles instead of maybe overusing missiles, is maybe a way to put it."
The Herd also ranks 14th in major college football in net punting, at 40.96 yards. Only seven of Williams’ 24 punts have been returned, for 79 yards – and 54 of those came on a third-quarter runback by Fred McRae IV of Miami (Ohio) in the season opener.
Williams has been a significant contributor for Marshall since his debut game, a 2012 loss at West Virginia, when the rookie – then a walk-on who has since gained a scholarship – booted four times in the hostile atmosphere at Mountaineer Field.
His first kick of 39 yards went out of bounds at the WVU 6. He followed with boots of 53, 54 and 59.
"In my mind, my best game has to be the Military Bowl, pinning them back four or five times," Williams said. "That’s a game-changer. My favorite game, though, was the first game of my career, at West Virginia. We lost – and it stinks to lose – but I had a good game, exciting, my freshman year, walk-on, I started, at West Virginia. That was fun."
It’s been that way again this season for the 21-year-old punter, as No. 23 Marshall (8-0, 4-0) heads to Southern Miss (3-5, 1-3) for a Nov. 8 game after an open date this Saturday.
"I’m more comfortable now," Williams said. "It’s not so much ‘Get the ball off … don’t get it blocked … don’t let them score.’ Those things were going through my head so much last year, whereas this year I’m not worried about getting blocked.
"It’s catch the ball, concentrate on my steps, my drop, get the ball off, get a good punt."
He usually does that, even if it doesn’t happen very often.
"If I don’t have to do my job," Williams said wryly, "that’s good for us."
