Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Position Breakdown: Special Teams
4/11/2017 6:09:00 PM | Football
Rooker, Bonadies return
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee's football team is hoping to make strides in all facets of the game in the 2017 season, including on special teams.
Special teams weren't an incredible asset for Middle Tennessee in 2016. Besides redshirt senior placekicker Canon Rooker and his long snapper, William Eads, no other Blue Raider special teamer earned All-Conference USA honors. Rooker and Eads were both on the first team.
The blue and white finished just 11th in the conference in kickoff return average at 19 yards per attempt, and its punt return average wasn't much better at 7.7 yards, good for ninth in C-USA. Their top kickoff returner, Desmond Anderson, was just 11th in the league with a 20.5-yard return average, while Richie James was sixth in punt return average (7.5 yards).
The Raiders were also eighth in the league in both net kickoff yard average (45.1) and net punt yard average (36.4), and junior punter Matt Bonadies took a bit of a step back in the distance category. His 38.8-yard punting average was almost three yards worse than his total in eight games as a freshman (41.3).
"For me, the biggest thing with Matt is consistency and proving it day in and day out," MT special teams coordinator Mike Polly said. "If he can bring some consistency with how good our coverage was, I think we could be really jammed up on punt."
Improving their numbers across the board has started in this year's spring drills, which conclude Saturday with the Blue-White Spring Finale.
Through the few weeks of practices, Polly and head coach Rick Stockstill have seen plenty of improvement even though they don't have all of their coverage pieces in place just yet.
"It's going well so far," Polly said. "It's always different in the spring, because a lot of times a big core of the guys you use on special teams are new guys. We don't have as much depth right now because a lot of those guys aren't here yet, but all in all it's going really well. We've had a chance to work pretty much every phase, and it's been good for us."
While the Blue Raiders had some unimpressive numbers on special teams a season ago, they did have a few bright spots.
The unit only turned the ball over once – a fumble by James on a punt return against Bowling Green – and while Bonadies struggled to put a lot of distance under his punts, his coverage team allowed opponents to return them for just a 4.2-yard average.
Rooker also had a career season. His 112 points scored set a new MT record for a kicker, and he made 16 of 19 field goals, the fourth-most makes in a single season in school history. A nine-straight FG conversion streak prior to a miss against Missouri also gave him the second-longest streak for the Blue Raiders, and the 64 PATs he knocked home set a new single-season school record.
This season will be a little different for Rooker, as Eads, a four-year starter at long snapper, is gone. Redshirt freshmen Daniel Sargent and Russ Hiett are expected to compete for the role.
"That's really the spot we have to solidify," Polly said. "We have a couple of guys fighting for that job and another guy coming in who could play a role."
Eads is the only significant loss the Blue Raiders have from a specialist standpoint, so with a lot of returning talent, Stockstill and Polly expect to see a solid year all around from the group.
Here are some headlines from the special teams:
Key losses: William Eads
Key returners: Cannon Rooker, Matt Bonadies, Jim Cardwell, Richie James, Desmond Anderson, Ruben Garnett, Terelle West
Players to watch: Crews Holt, Daniel Sargent, Russ Hiett
Roster:
Kickers
15 Canon Rooker [5-11, 189, R-Sr.]
19 Crews Holt [5-11, 182, R-Fr.]
Holder
38 Jim Cardwell [5-9, 169, R-Jr.]
Long Snappers
69 Daniel Sargent [6-0, 215, R-Fr.]
-- Russ Hiett [6-0, 229, R-Fr.]
Punters
90 Matthew Stephenson [5-10, 215, R-Fr.]
99 Matt Bonadies [6-1, 199, Jr.]
Returners
3 Richie James [5-9, 178, R-Jr.]
25 Desmond Anderson [5-10, 171, Jr.]
27 Ruben Garnett [5-9, 170, R-So.]
35 Terelle West [5-10, 187, R-So.]
Special teams weren't an incredible asset for Middle Tennessee in 2016. Besides redshirt senior placekicker Canon Rooker and his long snapper, William Eads, no other Blue Raider special teamer earned All-Conference USA honors. Rooker and Eads were both on the first team.
The blue and white finished just 11th in the conference in kickoff return average at 19 yards per attempt, and its punt return average wasn't much better at 7.7 yards, good for ninth in C-USA. Their top kickoff returner, Desmond Anderson, was just 11th in the league with a 20.5-yard return average, while Richie James was sixth in punt return average (7.5 yards).
The Raiders were also eighth in the league in both net kickoff yard average (45.1) and net punt yard average (36.4), and junior punter Matt Bonadies took a bit of a step back in the distance category. His 38.8-yard punting average was almost three yards worse than his total in eight games as a freshman (41.3).
"For me, the biggest thing with Matt is consistency and proving it day in and day out," MT special teams coordinator Mike Polly said. "If he can bring some consistency with how good our coverage was, I think we could be really jammed up on punt."
Improving their numbers across the board has started in this year's spring drills, which conclude Saturday with the Blue-White Spring Finale.
Through the few weeks of practices, Polly and head coach Rick Stockstill have seen plenty of improvement even though they don't have all of their coverage pieces in place just yet.
"It's going well so far," Polly said. "It's always different in the spring, because a lot of times a big core of the guys you use on special teams are new guys. We don't have as much depth right now because a lot of those guys aren't here yet, but all in all it's going really well. We've had a chance to work pretty much every phase, and it's been good for us."
While the Blue Raiders had some unimpressive numbers on special teams a season ago, they did have a few bright spots.
The unit only turned the ball over once – a fumble by James on a punt return against Bowling Green – and while Bonadies struggled to put a lot of distance under his punts, his coverage team allowed opponents to return them for just a 4.2-yard average.
Rooker also had a career season. His 112 points scored set a new MT record for a kicker, and he made 16 of 19 field goals, the fourth-most makes in a single season in school history. A nine-straight FG conversion streak prior to a miss against Missouri also gave him the second-longest streak for the Blue Raiders, and the 64 PATs he knocked home set a new single-season school record.
This season will be a little different for Rooker, as Eads, a four-year starter at long snapper, is gone. Redshirt freshmen Daniel Sargent and Russ Hiett are expected to compete for the role.
"That's really the spot we have to solidify," Polly said. "We have a couple of guys fighting for that job and another guy coming in who could play a role."
Eads is the only significant loss the Blue Raiders have from a specialist standpoint, so with a lot of returning talent, Stockstill and Polly expect to see a solid year all around from the group.
Here are some headlines from the special teams:
Key losses: William Eads
Key returners: Cannon Rooker, Matt Bonadies, Jim Cardwell, Richie James, Desmond Anderson, Ruben Garnett, Terelle West
Players to watch: Crews Holt, Daniel Sargent, Russ Hiett
Roster:
Kickers
15 Canon Rooker [5-11, 189, R-Sr.]
19 Crews Holt [5-11, 182, R-Fr.]
Holder
38 Jim Cardwell [5-9, 169, R-Jr.]
Long Snappers
69 Daniel Sargent [6-0, 215, R-Fr.]
-- Russ Hiett [6-0, 229, R-Fr.]
Punters
90 Matthew Stephenson [5-10, 215, R-Fr.]
99 Matt Bonadies [6-1, 199, Jr.]
Returners
3 Richie James [5-9, 178, R-Jr.]
25 Desmond Anderson [5-10, 171, Jr.]
27 Ruben Garnett [5-9, 170, R-So.]
35 Terelle West [5-10, 187, R-So.]
Players Mentioned
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PK
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RB
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