Return to Sender
September 14, 2004 12:02 PM | General
September 14, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For those of you going to Saturday’s West Virginia-Maryland game and are looking for an opportunity to go to the concession stand for some popcorn and a coke, be sure you at least wait until after each team punts.
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| WVU's Pac-Man Jones is averaging 28.3 yards per punt return.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
With Maryland’s Steve Suter and West Virginia’s Pac-Man Jones standing back deep, and heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan possibly making its way up the East Coast, punting the football could be a very interesting endeavor this weekend.
Punting has already been an adventure for West Virginia in prior games against Maryland.
In 2002, Suter, then a sophomore, broke West Virginia’s back with an 80-yard first-quarter punt return to give the Terrapins a commanding 28-0 lead. And last year in the Gator Bowl, Suter broke open a 10-point Maryland advantage with a 76-yard punt return in the second quarter to give the Terps a 17-0 advantage they never relinquished.
“He’s killed us on the returns and it seems like he’s gotten one against us every game,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez.
Suter, a 5-foot-9, 194-pound senior from Manchester, Md., is close to becoming the most prolific punt returner in NCAA history. If he can achieve 482 more punt return yards he can break Vanderbilt’s Lee Nalley’s 55-year record of 1,638 career punt return yards. Suter is also one TD return shy of equaling the NCAA record of seven punt returns for a touchdown currently held by three other players.
So far this season, Suter has returned six punts for 48 yards with a long return of 14 yards.
“We’ve got to try and come up with a plan to not let Suter beat us on punt returns,” Rodriguez said.
Perhaps leveling the playing field is West Virginia’s Pac-Man Jones, who has burst onto the scene this year with two terrific performances against East Carolina and Central Florida.
Jones returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown in the opener against ECU and had returns of 28 and 47 yards in the Central Florida win last week.
Jones’ 47-yard return in the third quarter against UCF was close to being a touchdown but the speedy College Park, Ga., resident became winded and was tripped up by UCF punter Aaron Horne at the 34 yard line. Jones took the ball at the WVU 19, broke to his left and raced up the far sideline. As he was making his way back across the field to elude the UCF defender in front of him, Jones was clipped by the punter which he didn’t see.
“I was very upset with myself,” Jones said. “There is no way I was supposed to go down right there. It was a trip too … it wasn’t even a grab.”
In Pac-Man’s defense, he rarely leaves the field, playing full-time defense and taking part on the kickoff and punt return teams.
“I probably need to run a couple of more sprints this week after practice,” laughed Jones, who says he believes he can return every punt for a touchdown.
He ranks second in the nation with an average of 28.3 yards per punt return and is also 25th among NCAA kickoff returners with an average of 24.3 yards per return. Jones has returned six punts for 170 yards and three kicks for 73 yards. In all, Jones has helped West Virginia to a very impressive 435 yards in kickoff and punt returns -- what coaches now refer to as hidden yardage.
“My guys out there are giving me a lot of holes to hit and I’m just doing what I have to do to get the job done and having fun,” Jones said.
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| Maryland's Steve Suter has returned two punts for scores against West Virginia.
AP photo |
Having such a dangerous threat like Jones and Suter must force punt teams to take extra time during the week to come up with a plan to defend them. That plan could ultimately mean not punting to them at all and running the risk of shanking a punt out of bounds for little or no net yardage.
Rodriguez is well aware of his options.
“(Suter) has been a great performer against us,” said the coach. “He’s a tremendous football player and we’ve tried to kick away from him and a couple of times we have and a couple of times we’ve kicked to him and he’s burned us.”
Being an effective punt returner himself, Jones understands the importance of defending Suter this Saturday.
“Suter is a great player and you have to keep your contain,” Jones said. “We’ve got to be ready to play, no ifs ands or buts about it. We’ve got to come and play football.”
And while Jones is impressed with what Suter has been able to accomplish, he doesn’t necessarily follow his career that closely.
“Why should I?” he asked.
Ultimately, if West Virginia can hang in the game with the No. 19-rated Terrapins this Saturday, the contest could possibly come down to a big special teams play by either Jones or Suter.
“It could come to that but hopefully it won’t,” Jones said. “I think we’ve got a good enough team to where if we stay focused it won’t come down to just one play in the game.
“If everything goes right we’ll come out with a happy face at the end of the day,” Jones added.
