Mark Stoops is still trying to decide who will be his starting punter Saturday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Maybe it is going to be okay the rest of the season for Kentucky to have a punter who can kick the ball a long way.
Special teams coach Jay Boulware indicated before the season started that transfer Aidan Laros — a player 100 percent endorsed by former Ray Guy Award winner Max Duffy — punted the ball too far for UK’s coverage team to handle.
That made Wilson Berry the No. 1 punter again in UK’s first three games and he was consistent but did not boom the ball. Kentucky consistently lost yardage in punt exchanges.
Berry averaged 41 yards per kick on 11 punts with a long of 49 yards in UK’s first three games. Against Ohio, Laros got his chance to kick. Even though UK punted only one time in the routine win, Laros made it count and punted 58 yards.
The ball did go into the end zone in part because the UK coverage team was not used to a punt going so far and was not racing to the goal line to down the ball.
Still, Stoops has not decided if Laros will be the No. 1 punter at Ole Miss Saturday afternoon or not.
“That job is up for grabs,” Stoops said on his weekly radio show. “He (Laros) hit it 58 and had over a 5.0 (second) hang. They were both a little inconsistent (in camp), but he hit it good.
“As a matter of fact, we were supposed to be a little bit to the left where we had a lot of our cover guys, but they weren’t really tuned into sky-kick where we track it — because we hadn’t exactly always hit the ball 58 yards. If he keeps doing that, then we’ll track it going (forward).”
Laros transferred to UK from UT-Martin after leading the FCS in punting at 47.3 yards per attempt in 2023 and ranked ninth in net punting at 40.8 yards per attempt. He had 18 punts of 50 yards or more and put 16 punts out of 52 inside the 20-yard line.
With Kentucky depending on its defense so much, field position is vital and extra yards Laros can provide with his punts certainly seem like would be a welcome plus for UK.
8 Responses
Why is Stoops so unsure, when everyone else sees the obvious? You would think the oldest coach in the SEC would be more decisive. It’s a lot of little things that keeps him from being a great coach. One day UK will outgrow him.
Wilson kicked the ball much further at the beginning of his kicking career at UK and then suddenly became a 35 to 39 yard punter regardless of where he was kicking from.
The UK Special Teams has been UNspecial year after year and nothing has changed. A solid punter (before coming to UK) was lost in the transfer. Now a real punter shows up and Stoops is going to control thr hapless Special Teams by benching a real punter.
Stoops does not want to put the best players on Special Teams. He wants to put freshmen without any experience and questionable ability on it.
UK does NOT get good punt coverage because of the choice of personnel.
UK does NOT get good blocking for punt returns because of the choice of personnel.
For years, Stoops has refused to commit a full time Special Teams coach to the job & it has been costly!
Punting short because of inadequate/ poor punt coverage because the coach(es) refuse to use better players on Special Teams is as dumb as chjoker when he slowed down the high octane offense he inherited (and choked) because he did not want to score too fast – all because he was trying to cover for his friend, the totally inept DC!
Stoops CONTINUES TO FAIL regarding…
•• starting games on fire instead of asleep
•• playing “not to lose” instead of to win
•• NEVER having a DEDICATED Special Teams coach
Does the AD ever ask Trump why he fails every year on the same things?!
Here’s what kills me. They rush in like they are going to block the punter. Once they get through the line they look like they can maybe block the punt. Then they slow down and don’t try to block the punt. The punt returner backs off on the ball then at the last second he receives it by fair catch. WTF. Maclin looks scared of his own shadow on punt returns. Then on punting the ball. The punter has no hangtime. Berry is Terrible because he kicks a line drive to the opposing team giving there team a chance at a return every time. Why isn’t Laros punting he still hasn’t figured out who he wants to punt? It doesn’t take a genius to see that Berry is terrible. He’s nothing like the other Australian punter we had. He was great he would run up to whatever side he was punting and kick it 50-60 yards. This punter kicks it 30-40 yards and that’s it. We need a kicker than can flip the field for us. Why is Stoops so unsure all the time. He’s had 12 years to be sure of something?
Right on all counts. Stoops has ZERO ability & knowledge regarding anything except defense. And now I realize he must not have any idea about secondary defense. UK is not getting the beat or the most out of secondary players.
Right on all counts. Stoops has ZERO ability & knowledge regarding anything except defense. And now I realize he must not have any idea about secondary defense. UK is not getting the best or the most out of secondary defenders.
That punter we used to have would run it for a first down if the opposing team didn’t respect him.
I wonder if the UK “part-time” UNspecial teams coach does not allow a punter to run if he sees daylight.
I recall Larry Seiple (Siple) who punted for UK in 1960’s under HC Blanton Collier (?) deciding to run with it instead of punting and he ran for a major gain – maybe 75 yards for a TD (can’t recall exactly) and after the game the HC said we won’t be seeing that again. I think we have a smiler mindset these days.
Larry ended up a big-time successful punter for the great Miami team with Bob Griese at QB.
Early 70’s Dolphins! Look it up people!