Special teams to be put to the test as Bengals gear up for season opener at Oregon State

Football coaches love to have talent in depth, and not just because they like to throw fresh bodies out on the field on offense or defense.

Depth is one of the key components of having successful special teams.

Idaho State’s special teams struggled at times last season. But the Bengals are hoping that the greater depth the team has developed in the second year of the Cody Hawkins regime will result in better play on special teams.

“Yeah, that’s 100% where you see it (greater depth) show up most,” Hawkins said of special teams play. “We believe that we’ve added some talent, but the talent that was here was good — we just needed to develop and mature and add in some depth. ... Another year in the program they’re able to add strength and conditioning with coach (Jeff) Pitman and be a part of the program — I’m confident that will show up in special teams for sure.”

The Bengal special teams were thrown for a bit of a loop when coordinator Jesse Thompson left the team shortly before practice began. His duties were then divided up between Nick Alaimalo, who is also coaching inside receivers, and Scott Thiessen, who also mentors safeties. Then just before practice began, Hawkins hired his dad, longtime head coach Dan Hawkins, who has also taken on special teams responsibilities, including working one-on-one with the kickers.

Thiessen said the key to successfully adding special teams duties to his position duties is communication.

“It’s just communication with (Hawkins) and coach Nick (Alaimalo) in terms of the things that we have to take care of on offense and defense,” said Thiessen, who came to ISU from Lamar, where he coached linebackers and special teams. “For me on the defensive side, (defensive coordinator Josh) Runda knows what kind of role I’m in now, doing both, and he’s conscious of the time that I’m spending with both.

“Same thing with coach Nick (Alaimalo),” Thiessen added. “He works his butt off with special teams. I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing without coach Nick right there by my side. The amount of time and attention to detail that he puts into what we do — it all kind of works itself out as one cohesive group. It’s not just me doing the whole deal.”

The top priority for special teams improvement this year is improving the net punt — that is, hopefully Idaho State will gain more yards on punt returns than it gives up to its opponents.

“We’ve got to do a much better job at net punt,” said Hawkins. “That’s something that occurs so much. There is more yardage traded on punts than any other play. I would love to think we’re going to score every single time, but you know that’s not the case.”

Ross Bolger, the Irish import who averaged 41.29 yards per kick last season, returns as the likely starting punter for the Bengals. The depth piece comes into the picture in building solid coverage teams around Bolger, and putting a good punt return unit on the field when the other team is kicking.

Because the punt team is so critical, Thiessen said the coaches are trying to put their best athletes on those teams, whether they are starters on offense or defense.

“When it comes to punt, anyone is pretty much fair game for us,” Thiessen said. “We’re going to have the best guys we have on punt team. We feel like it’s the most important team we have. ... so we’re going to put our best guys there and make sure we’re getting the job done. From that point on, it’s all a discussion. There is not any one starter who is off limits, but we also recognize that it’s going to be a 12-game season and we’ve got to get through all 12 games. Based on some of the history in the past, we know there are certain guys that we might need to be careful putting on some of those teams, just because of the impact of that type of play.”

The coaches look at staffing special teams strategically. It makes sense to put defensive players on coverage teams, for example. It might not make sense to put an offensive player on a return team if he’s going to be going out on the field the next series.

There are certain Bengals who excel in the special teams arena. Wide receivers Julian Mason and Daison Brooks, who played linebacker last year but moved to running back this season, and defensive lineman Cortland Horton are three guys to watch when the Bengal kicking teams are on the field.

“Juice (Mason), dating back to last season, he really stepped into a big role on special teams,” Thiessen said of the 180-pound sophomore from Tacoma, Washington. “It’s something that he’s taken a lot of pride in. He’s someone we’re going to count on getting down the field. You saw him at the end of the scrimmage today coming off the edge and just about blocking the punt. I think he was worried about hitting the punter, so he laid off a little.”

Brooks, meanwhile, a 225-pound sophomore from Chandler, Arizona, is a versatile performer that Thiessen and the rest of the coaching staff feel comfortable putting just about anywhere on special teams, given his athleticism. The fact that he’s in the running for a starting position in the offensive backfield may limit his contributions on special teams this year, however.

Finally, Horton, the 256-pound senior from Eagle, is the key protector for the punter.

“He kind of runs the show for our punt team as the middle shield,” said Thiessen. “He’s the kind of guy who makes that whole team go. Having some veteran guys like that on your teams. ... makes our lives a little bit easier having those guys to count on.”

Other key performers on the special teams, include Christian Fredericksen (punt return), Keoua Kauhi II (kick return), Scott Atkinson (long snapper) and Hunter Hays (holder). As of the end of Saturday’s scrimmage, the coaching staff had not decided who was going to be the place kicker when the Bengals open the season at Oregon State Saturday. Bolger, Gabe Panikowski, a transfer from Sacramento State, and Mason Linberg, a freshman from Arizona, were all still in contention for the kickoff and field goal jobs.

“You might see a couple of different guys when it comes to field goals and kickoffs,” said Thiessen. “That’s the blessing and the curse — we have a couple of guys that can do it, we just haven’t nailed one. Ross (Bolger) is definitely going to be punting for us and then when it comes to field goals and kickoffs, I think there’s still kind of a battle there. We might see reps from a couple of different guys.”

Special teams is often an area of advantage when FBS teams like Oregon State take on FCS squads like Idaho State. For one thing, FBS schools have more scholarships and more depth. They also typically have bigger, stronger athletes across the board.

“It’s amazing as you look at the size and length of those teams, especially Oregon State,” said Hawkins. “I talked to a few people who played them last year and they said they look more like an SEC team.”

Hawkins said ball placement is going to be key for his kickers on Saturday.

“They’ve got some really talented returners, and they’ve got bigger, longer guys holding our guys up, so it’s harder to get off the blocks,” Hawkins said. “We have to make sure we do a really good job of ball placement on our kicks so we don’t put our coverage units in bad positions.”