Cal special-teams coach Pete Alamar is quick to concede he hasn't completely shut out memories of last season's 47-40 loss at UCLA. The Bruins, who face the Bears today at Memorial Stadium, dominated on special teams last season as they handed Cal its first loss after a 5-0 start. ``If you are asking if it still bothers me, sure it does,'' Alamar said Thursday. UCLA's Maurice Jones-Drew blitzed the Bears for 162 yards on three punt returns. He went 81 yards for one touchdown and set up another with a 69-yard return. UCLA also used a fake punt to set up a touchdown. ``All of a sudden, Drew just goes off,'' said Cal linebacker Worrell Williams. ``They took our season from us. We lost our swagger.'' Alamar faced many tough questions after that game, and he took most of the blame for the loss. A load of fan discontent fell at Alamar's feet. ``I've been doing this 20-something years,'' he said. ``That's going to happen. It's the nature of the beast.''
It's also the nature of the beast that a special-teams coach doesn't get asked too many questions when things are going well. Alamar hasn't had too much explaining to do this season.
Cal leads the Pacific-10 Conference in net punting at 38.8 yards per attempt and is third in the conference in kickoff returns at 21.9 yards per attempt. Cal is second in punt-return average at 13.4 yards. Junior Tom Schneider has made 7 of 8 field-goal tries and all 36 of his extra-points attempts. ``Tom has gotten better every year,'' Alamar said. ``His first two seasons, he was a 60 percent kicker.'' Punter Andrew Larson, in his first season after transferring from junior college, is averaging 42.7 yards per kick. ``We had a new punter, and that was our unknown,'' Alamar said. ``The biggest adjustment a punter has to make is the amount of time he has to get the punt off. From catch to kick, it's 1.2 seconds. He had a long stride, so we shortened it up. We also told him that you don't have to be fast, just be efficient.'' Punt-return specialist DeSean Jackson is second in the conference with a 14.3 yards-per-attempt average, and he has two returns for touchdowns. With ankle troubles keeping tailback Marshawn Lynch from returning kicks, Marcus O'Keith has averaged 25 yards per return. If special teams play a factor in today's game, Cal would seem to have the upper hand. Jones-Drew has moved on to the NFL, and the Bruins don't have a return man ranked in the conference's top nine. Kickoff returner Jeremy McGee is 10th at 18.5 yards per attempt. UCLA does have perhaps the conference's top field-goal kicker in Justin Medlock, who has hit 18 of 20 attempts. Alamar said he doesn't pay particular attention to statistics, except those indicating where drives begin.
He pointed out that a team that uses a pooch kickoff tends to hold opponents to a lower kick-return average, but the opponent's drive might start much farther downfield than it would against a team that permits longer returns but boots the ball to the end zone. ``Some stats are more relevant,'' Alamar said. ``Net punting, the start of drives.'' The stat that was relevant in last year's loss to UCLA was 21, as in Bruins points resulting from big special-teams plays. Alamar was asked if he had extra incentive going into today's game. ``You had better be focused every week,'' he said. ``And I don't lack for focus.'' Alamar said the Bears will take the same approach they take every week. ``We talk about out-hustling, out-executing the other team,'' he said. ``But we know that UCLA is very fast, very athletic in its kicking game.''
No comments:
Post a Comment