Iowa coaches: Special teams play ‘unacceptable and needs to change’

IOWA CITY - In a midweek preseason practice, Iowa special teams coach Chris White lined up three players against three opponents. This drill was designed with multiple purposes. One, show gunners how to avoid blocks at the line of scrimmage. Two, show the opposite side how to engage and prevent the gunner from getting past him.

'We were work on those fundamentals all the time in terms of the coverage and squeezing and leverage and really getting off a block,” White said. 'Downfield, they were kind of stuck on blocks, and they got pushed by the returner and all the sudden there's a seam there ... it takes just one guy not being in the right spot and you lose a game.”

Such was Iowa's case last year against Nebraska, a 37-34 overtime loss. The Hawkeyes' 10-point, fourth-quarter lead evaporated into a four-point deficit in 1 minute, 26 seconds of game action. Special teams was the primary culprit.

Iowa allowed just two punt returns of 20-plus yards all season. Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, both took place in the same quarter on consecutive possessions. Two returns by Nebraska super freshman De'Mornay Pierson-El - one for 41 yards, another for 80 - changed the game and shaped the off-season vibe surrounding the program.

'You wish you had it back every day,” said Iowa middle linebacker Josey Jewell, who was on the field for Pierson-El's 80-yard touchdown return. 'We've watched that three times in camp, focusing on that play and many others throughout the game.”

It was no surprise Pierson-El was a threat. Last year he led the NCAA in punt return yardage per game (45.8) and total punt return yards (596). Kansas State's Tyler Lockett was second at 30.8 and 402, respectively.

On Pierson-El's 41-yard return, Iowa faced fourth and 6 from its 24. Dillon Kidd's punt drove Pierson-El to his 25, where he made an over-the shoulder catch. Momentum took him to the 20, but Pierson-El wasted no steps rushing up the field. The Cornhuskers triple-teamed Iowa's gunners off the line of scrimmage, then filtered over to other defenders after the kick. Pierson-El found an alley, juked Iowa's Cole Fisher, raced past John Lowdermilk and Quinton Alston up Nebraska's sideline before Pierson-El was dragged down by Kidd at Iowa's 32.

On its next possession, Iowa faced fourth and 10 at its 42 with 12:25 remaining. After a high snap, Kidd launched the ball with a high arc between his right hash mark and the sideline at Nebraska's 20-yard line, where Pierson-El retrieved the ball. From the right side, Iowa gunner Derrick Mitchell was blocked by Joshua Kalu about six feet from Pierson-El. Iowa's left gunner, Akeem Wadley, bumped into Mitchell and Pierson-El slid inside both players.

Pierson-El then sliced past Jewell and in seven steps, Pierson-El had eight Iowa defenders to his left and a wide-open field to his right. Pierson-El raced to Iowa's 30, where he faced Kidd and left upback Jordan Lomax. Pierson-El evaded both players to score the go-ahead touchdown.

'If you look at the punt, it wasn't a bad punt,” White said. 'We were trying to get the ball out of bounds, and that's a hard thing to do. You tell a kid to hit it 40 yards out of bounds, it's not an easy thing to do. I know when I was with the (Minnesota) Vikings, we tried to do that with Devin Hester. Kick the ball out of bounds. We didn't, and he returned it back on us. People don't really understand how difficult that is.

'I don't think it was a miscommunication at all. He didn't hit it quite far enough out there.”

After the game, Pierson-El scoffed at Iowa's coverage and the wide lane in which he ran.

'Once they kicked it to me I was like, ‘Seriously? Again?'” Pierson-El said. 'I'm thankful for it. Thanksgiving was the other day, and that's what I'm thankful for. I told Coach if they give me one, I'll be thankful for it, and I made the best of it.”

It wasn't always this way for Iowa, which was known as perhaps the Big Ten's most sound special teams program a decade ago. Special teams instead have lapsed the last five years in the fog of fake punts (Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Michigan State) and onside kicks (Central Michigan, Minnesota twice). Five of those losses were by a combined 10 points.

The Nebraska disaster provided a tipping point for Coach Kirk Ferentz. In its Saturday practice in front of fans, Iowa unveiled its kick return unit that was littered with front-line players. All nine of its blockers are either starters or rotational players. Three starters were among six returning kickoffs. Ferentz appeared visibly exasperated when talking about special teams and their gaffes from the past.

'Anybody that can help our special teams, they'll be in there,” Ferentz said. 'If we've got to rest them offensively, defensively, we'll do that. But we're not losing ground on special teams; that just doesn't work. We've paid too big of a price in recent history. We're not going down that road again by any stretch.”

'We have to be above average or we are just going to be an OK team, and that's not what we are shooting for.”

It's a message that resonates with White and Iowa's players. On Pierson-El's scoring return, Nebraska's Sam Foltz yanked down Jewell by the shoulder pads by but no penalty was called. Therefore, the penalty didn't exist and Jewell didn't offer any excuses.

'When we have a good Iowa team coaches always say, we always have a good special teams unit for any special teams,” Jewell said. 'Yeah, there's been a lot more focus on it this year and we just need to get down to details.”

'Every week you're going to face someone really good. We understand that,” White said. 'We've got to be more consistent. At times we did cover fairly well. We did make some plays. But you can't give up more than 15 yards a return. That's unacceptable and needs to change.”

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