Louisville Football: Special Teams Update

[Shannon]

Jon Payne, Cory Goettsche, and Chris Philpott
Louisville punter Cory Goettsche, had a rough go with his punting duties in the WVU game.

Goettsche shanked back-to-back punts in a close road game, of 15 and 22 yards.

I think this week, we will be getting Jon Payne warmed-up IMO. Hard to win when we make the field so short for the WVU offense, and it puts so much more pressure on our defense.

Not dogging Goettsche, but after he about took our heads off with a shank all the way in the stands at the open practice on August 6th, all the shanks in the past, and now this showing, we may need to look elsewhere for our punting duties, until Cory can get his head and mechanics together. Two back-to-back punts of 45 and 66 FEET? We can not afford more punts like that, and expect to be successful the remainder of the season.

Just for the record, I went outside and I punted the ball on average 30-35 yards each time, and I am a 40 year old guy, who only played safety, and never was a kicker/punter.

Maybe I am being unrealistic about consistently punting a ball 35 yards or more when unchallenged, I don't know. But I think we will see a new punter for Syracuse.

#35 Jon Payne 5-10 179 P JR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)

But on a more positive note, what about Chris Philpott going 3-3 on FGs? Awesome 44, 37, and a 29 yard boots. Much improved in FG kicking, and Chris looked great, and kept us in the game with WVU.

#12 Chris Philpott 6-0 191 K SO Atlanta, Ga. (St. Pius X Catholic)

Look for Chris Philpott to take over ALL kicking duties, and for perhaps a change at punter against Syracuse with Jon Payne getting a crack at punting.

Other developments in the special teams return personnel:

Punt Returns:

#89 Scott Radcliff 5-10 183 WR FR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity), has been our punt returner as of late, and has done a good job so far. No big returns, but does not bobble the ball, and has made good decisions overall. Radcliff has been playing well this season, and I took a lot of heat pre-season, saying Scott was one of three walk-ons, that were great additions for our Cardinals.

Kickoff Returns:

#22 Jacques Caldwell 5-9 177 CB RS FR Garland, Texas (Garland), was the other kickoff returner along side Trent Guy in the WVU game. Now Jacques has had issues in the past of catching and holding onto the ball, and he bobbled one against WVU. I am not sure how long Jacques will last as kickoff returner, but he is one of the fastest, if not THE fastest player on the team. Jacques has GREAT potential, so we will see.