The Anatomy of a Punt Block feat. Nebraska Special Teams

I had posted about this in the “[Nebraska Observations](https://www.reddit.com/r/Huskers/comments/r3f2i1/comment/hmbudob/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)” thread but /u/klingma asked about making a new thread about the blocked punt that “lost” Nebraska the game against Iowa but with illustrations so I figured I would. This is going to be incredibly lengthy, for that I apologize, if you do not care and just want to the tl;dr, go to the other post that I linked which has the executive summary in bold at the top. This is going to be more stream of consciousness so I apologize in advance for the rambling and the inevitable typos.

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We have all seen very clearly how awful Nebraska is on special teams. The stories write themselves. Between the missed field goals, the shanked punts, the returned punts, the returned kicks, the blocked kicks and the general incompetence Nebraska has one of the worst special teams units in the country. We all know it and I know Scott Frost knows it but this is going to be an insight into the how and why, specifically the how and why Nebraska got a punt blocked on Friday that, according to Scott Frost, lost the game (we’ll ignore that Nebraska still led after that right now).

First thing first, a basic introduction to punt protection. There are two base philosophies for protecting your punter in football. The spread punt protection and the shield punt protection. Spread punt protection is the base protection scheme basically everyone has used for as long as punts were a thing. It is a double wing formation with five “down” blockers, a wing/slot on either side, a gunner on either side, a single upback/personal protector and the punter. Shield punt protection schemes take a number of forms, but the base form is 5 “down” blockers, a gunner on either side, three players in the backfield forming the shield and the punter. There are variations of that, some with extreme splits, some with only 2 shield players in the backfield, some unbalanced looks depending on coverage or if you have a rugby style punter but that’s the basic gist of it. **Nebraska runs a shield punt protection (seen below, from Przystup’s 84 yard punt vs NW).**

[Better Punting Times](https://preview.redd.it/ytde2nvyif281.png?width=1407&format=png&auto=webp&s=4e99ce04a9639b6ff7a6919942f5ab1a78cbcc76)

As you can see in that picture, Nebraska has five “down” players that I will call by their offensive line equivalent names, tackles and guards plus the long snapper. There are two gunners to either side and three shield personal protectors, with the two man side of the shield on the punter’s kicking foot side, the left. An important thing to note with how Nebraska traditionally protects its punts:

Nebraska uses much narrower splits than nearly all shield punt teams I have seen, Nebraska almost uses a hybrid shield and spread look. This is important for two reasons, the first is that in coverage they have significantly farther to go laterally to get to their coverage lane. The second is that the outermost “edge” return team player is significantly closer to the punter than he would be if Nebraska used “traditional” shield splits, which are anything from 2-3 yards to as much as 5 yards, seen here with San Diego State protecting Punt God himself Matt Araiza:

[PUNT GOD](https://preview.redd.it/63yo3mizjf281.png?width=1409&format=png&auto=webp&s=bbfdbb83427b24286aebddd0e0b59ac23ecf2aac)

The benefits of these wide splits are immediately obvious. The return team has to account for everyone in this formation, both the eligible receivers and the coverage players, limiting the number of players they can use to rush the punter. Araiza is a traditional-style left footed punter, like Przystup is for Nebraska, so your additional shield player is to his left as well as the additional “down” protector. **The first fatal flaw in Nebraska’s punt unit is these splits. It negatively impacts both Nebraska’s ability to cover punts and their ability to protect their punter.**

The second issue facing Nebraska is that they utilize two completely different styles of punters. Przystup is a traditional style left footed punter, Cerni is a hybrid rugby-style right footed punter. The protections for these two punters should be completely different, both in the base formation and the protection rules but what I have found is that Nebraska protects them both the same, only changing the side the extra shield protector is as seen below. Przystup on top, Cerni on the bottom (Nebraska is in a RIGHT formation in the second photo, with the second gunner in an over alignment expecting a directional punt to the right from Cerni, we all know how that ended up… pain).

[Shank](https://preview.redd.it/tva3n2smlf281.png?width=1386&format=png&auto=webp&s=0de189a82bf4a15d4f71b375291f1ca83276b04b)

[Pain](https://preview.redd.it/71j2ozinlf281.png?width=1364&format=png&auto=webp&s=4c2d5747c05f19a5a6f39ca5a88be4a9fcbfeeb1)

Now some general basics about punt protection. The shortest distance between any two points is a straight line and the shortest straight line is from the interior of the formation directly in front of the punter. It is for that reason that punt protections operate from the inside out. The general rules are inside gap, on (player directly over you), away and release. For a rugby style punter, the first responsibility is the gap towards your punter’s kicking leg.

The long snapper may or may not have a protection responsibility in either style of punt, some teams do, some teams do not. Nebraska ***DOES NOT*** assign protection responsibilities to its long snapper and the LS releases straight down the field into coverage. In a rugby style punt protection scheme the player lined up at the tackle position AWAY from the punter’s kicking leg will check IN and release down the field disregarding the player lined up outside his shoulder since there is no way that player should be able to block a rugby style punt going the other way (most return teams assign this player the safety assignment in the return checking for a fake and then picking up the punt team’s safety player to that side). That is going to be important going forward.

Similar to the front five, the shield players also work inside to out as the most immediate threat to the punter is the free release rusher up the middle. They will typically move together shoulder to shoulder after the snap so there are no creases and they are taught that they are playing “on a cliff”, meaning, DO NOT MOVE BACKWARDS SO MUCH AS AN INCH OR YOU DIE (or the punt hits you in the back of the head, I’m not sure which is worse).

**This brings us to Friday.**

We will start nice and simple, with Nebraska’s very first punt of the game. Nebraska’s first punt of the game was by William Przystup, the left footed traditional style punter and was from the back of his own end zone.

[It wouldn’t have killed the offense to have gained more than 3 yards, but that’s another problem for another day.](https://preview.redd.it/13hrieseqf281.png?width=1239&format=png&auto=webp&s=1c53813ba3514702ba8c1cfc9a9f6a7e0d206b41)

As you can see, Nebraska is in its usual protection. Less than one yard splits, three man shield with the second shield blocker to the left of Przystup, his kicking leg side. Iowa is lined up in a basic 33 look, 3 players on either side of the LS, plus a player who is ultimately responsible for blocking the LS in coverage. Nebraska has a directional punt to the left on here, as such everyone will release LEFT after their initial blocking assignment is checked (Iowa only rushes 2 here so everyone free releases).

[Don’t step backwards don’t step backwards don’t step backwards.](https://preview.redd.it/we6lgm09rf281.png?width=1243&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a89218b791872340f6a7ebf83e98908f0400a6f)

The punt, in true Nebraska Special Teams Fashion, does NOT go left but is in actuality right in the center of the field. This punt should have been returned for a touchdown except for the incredible individual effort of #37, Phalen Sanford, who is lined up at the right tackle position and is the right side safety/contain player in this coverage. He is the last line of defense to that side and he makes an incredible individual solo tackle.

[There is no one left outside of Sanford here.](https://preview.redd.it/nim0fgt0sf281.png?width=1239&format=png&auto=webp&s=56843f9e531f27180949c3559c6381f5c92d990d)

**PHEW, CRISIS AVERTED WE HAVE THIS ONE IN THE BAG RIGHT?**

[Nope.](https://i.redd.it/x14n7l6hsf281.gif)

That brings us to the punt in the fourth quarter. Yay. Let’s go straight to the pictures.

[Can you spot the problem right off the bat?](https://preview.redd.it/8sof4d5tsf281.png?width=1241&format=png&auto=webp&s=bab09ee79b850f7a473fa638a446ad7a59c720f8)

As you can see here, this is the normal Nebraska punt protection for the right footed Daniel Cerni. Under one yard splits, gunners on either side, three shield players with the two man side to the side of the right footed punter. Perfect! We haven’t had a punt blocked all year, probably won’t have one blocked now right? The problem? ***William Przystup is the punter. A left footed traditional style punter.*** Nebraska’s shield is aligned for a punter that is not on the field behind them. Yeah, this staff definitely spends a lot of time coaching special teams.

[Same.](https://i.redd.it/tzzvhks7uf281.gif)

Now, for what Iowa is doing here. Iowa has a 44 block on here. All 8 players are on the line, four on either side of the long snapper. Every player on the line of scrimmage for Nebraska here has a protection responsibility. Or they should have one, anyway. The most dangerous threat in this look is that Iowa has two players on each side of the long snapper and remember, Nebraska’s long snapper does not EVER have a protection assignment (something I fundamentally disagree with, but it doesn’t really matter either way). This is where the narrow splits gets you into trouble, Iowa is able to put four players A Gap to A Gap because they do not have to account for anyone outside of them.

Punt protection is always about communication. Everyone is pointing out the guy they are responsible for in the protection and this was no different. Nebraska’s players are pointing out who they are going to block, as seen below:

[The problem begins to unfold.](https://preview.redd.it/4rfmag4wuf281.png?width=1245&format=png&auto=webp&s=9341c545ddf84934ca483431ece0d2d514f5c65e)

This is going to be your second sign of a problem. Everyone in the formation is pointing to the player to their right. The players on the left are pointing to their INSIDE gap, the players on the right are pointing to their OUTSIDE gap. Everyone is going right. Remember what we talked about above? For a traditional punter, your first responsibility is INSIDE, then ON, then OUT. For a rugby style punter, your responsibilities are punter’s kicking leg first. Let’s see what happens!

[Everyone is going right…](https://preview.redd.it/exog40wjvf281.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=b194f1a50374235cb1193098d36595defcb255eb)

Uhohhhhhh. As you can see, everything Nebraska is doing is exactly what you would do if a right footed rugby punter was punting. Everyone checked right, the right guard and right tackle blocked their guys, the long snapper free released, the left guard blocked inside gap, the left tackle checked inside and then free released because for a right footed rugby style punter, the player to his OUTSIDE shoulder could never actually get to the punt so he left him alone. But a right footed rugby style punter was not on the field, a left footed traditional style punter was on the field.

[A kettle of hawks.](https://preview.redd.it/o7n4dv0hwf281.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=b2bbfa0235b0177cef6b8ab7db19754525f9deba)

Iowa ultimately brings 6 of the 8 players they had lined up on the line. For whatever reason, three of Nebraska’s five “down” blockers simply checked and released rather than block their man. Punt protection is not like run blocking, you don’t find your guy and then try to pancake him because that would leave you out of your lane for coverage and these guys are all linebackers, not linemen. The typical teaching process in protection on the line is to work the guy you’re responsible for laterally for two beats and then release. From long snap to ball on foot should be around 2 seconds in a well functioning punt unit so you do not need to block them long, just get them off their direct path line and move on. The punt was out in about 1.85, a great time.

As you can see above, the outermost player on the left, the one that got a free release by the left tackle player, is the one who blocks the punt. Even with all of the failures up front, this still should not have been a fatal error in the protection because the outermost player in the shield is responsible for any free rusher to the outside and just needs to step out and hand check him. Unfortunately, remember that Nebraska’s shield is also misaligned for a right footed punter, not the left footed punter actually punting.

[Potato quality screenshot, potato quality punt protection.](https://preview.redd.it/pytxn66qyf281.png?width=1239&format=png&auto=webp&s=f91100aa5def45ca982e830bf61c981e647345b3)

[Not good, not good at all.](https://preview.redd.it/dy3vrx3dzf281.png?width=1210&format=png&auto=webp&s=003135fe68e71436dc84988aa5ef28a6e87a33f8)

It is pretty easy to see how quickly this can go south on Nebraska’s punt unit here. Iowa has two players in the right A Gap, two players in the left A gap and two players on either shoulder of the left tackle. As you can see, everyone is doing exactly what you would do for a right footed rugby style punter. The two players on the right blocked right, the long snapper free released, the two players on the left blocked right with the left tackle checking and releasing. To the credit of Simon Otte (I believe) at left guard, he not only blocks gap down but he picks up the back shoulder player too. He did everything he could.

[You know the Game of Thrones scene where Jon Snow draws his sword alone in the face of the cavalry? Yep.](https://preview.redd.it/ebg1fege0g281.png?width=1243&format=png&auto=webp&s=4562c3b6813c4bbcf681ed4ea77f5a8f952821e9)

Again though, even with essentially five Iowa players getting a free release into the backfield, this still would not have been a fatal flaw except for the misaligned shield. As you can see, once the misaligned shield condensed to be shoulder to shoulder, it opened a direct and unobstructed path for the unblocked outermost edge rusher to the punter’s kicking foot. This couldn’t have been easier for him. No one touched him, no one got in his way, he had the shortest direct line to the punter’s foot and he got there with ease.

[When the punt blocker takes it straight off your foot, you know it was bad blocking.](https://preview.redd.it/gq6ikm911g281.png?width=1190&format=png&auto=webp&s=d4927fcb3c15061de45c1ca446c60f8faad7937d)

Let’s take a second to look at what Nebraska is actually attempting to do coverage-wise here. Nebraska is clearly in a right directional punt situation, everyone is going right and the punt returner is already over there, expecting it. I do not know enough about Przystup’s tendencies but given Nebraska’s failures at directional punting all season long, I am stunned to see them continuing to try it and just looking at how this coverage was developing, if the punt goes anywhere left of the right hash, it is getting returned for a huge gain as Nebraska has no safety player to that side (it is likely one of the shield blockers’ assignment but remember, the shield is misaligned). This is where the splits really come in to play, CFB hashes are 40′ apart and when you start this condensed, it becomes very easy for the return team to get leverage on you unless your punt is perfectly placed. Nebraska hasn’t had a perfectly placed punt in years. All in all, not awesome.

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So there you have it. The Anatomy of a Punt Block and Nebraska loses (even though Nebraska still led after this, but that’s another discussion). I doubt we will ever get any sort of confirmation one way or the other, but it is very clear to me that Nebraska’s punt protection unit was running a protection for the right footed rugby style punter Daniel Cerni, who did end up making the punt immediately following this, and not the left footed traditional style punter William Przystup who was actually attempting the punt.

How does that happen, you might be asking yourself right now? It doesn’t. It doesn’t happen. We are not talking about a mistake that comes from not having a dedicated special teams coordinator, we are talking about a mistake that comes from absolutely no one on the coaching staff paying even the slightest attention to special teams.

Punt blocks happen, teams get punts blocked all the time and usually it is because of a very well designed, clever punt block by the opposing unit taking advantage of some sort of quirk in your punt protection. That isn’t this. Iowa did nothing special here, the outermost edge rusher was unblocked and just ran a straight line. The snap to foot time was under 2 seconds, which is great, exactly what you’re looking for, it just got blocked because the punt unit was aligned for and protecting for a punter that wasn’t on the field. Those are things that simply do not happen at this level of football and yet here we are.

[Nebraska Special Teams dot gif (some pronounce it jif)](https://i.redd.it/ke4qq3uldg281.gif)

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