More Special Teams’ Stats than You Can Shake a Stick at

N. C. State senior Tobias Palmer racked up 954 kickoff return yards for the season, fourth most at the FBS level, which tells us two things: 1) Palmer is a dangerous return man, and 2) Wolfpack opponents were kicking the ball off far, far too often. Palmer averaged a solid 25.2 yards per return and took one kick back 100 yards to the house that Chuck Amato built. Niklas Sade ranked fifth nationally in average kickoff distance and 11^th in touchback percentage at a touch over 60%, making the kick return and kickoff units strengths for the Wolfpack, but overall Vanderbilt has a decided advantage in special teams.

In fact, the Football Outsiders rank State's offensive (70^th to 86^th) and defensive efficiency (38^th to 42^nd) ahead of Vanderbilt, but the Commodores enjoy a higher overall ranking (52^nd to 56^th) thanks to a special teams unit that ranks 6^th nationally in efficiency. The Pack come in at 65^th.

Commodore Jonathan Krause is one of just eight FBS returners to take multiple punts back for scores, and his 11.2-yard return average ranks 24^th nationally. Punter Richard Kent's boot will soon have its own line of kung fu movies. Kent ranks 12^th nationally with a 44.8-yard average and has deftly put 19 kicks inside the 20 with only three touchbacks. Kent has 16 boots of 50+ yards, which is basically two Wil Baumann punts put together.

Commodore placekicker Casey Spear nailed 19 of 22 field goal attempts, good for the 10^th best accuracy in the FBS, and he was an impressive seven-for-10 from beyond 40 yards. Coach Franklin apparently has a soft spot for redshirt senior Ryan Fowler, who shared extra point duties with Spear. Spear was perfect in his 24 attempts but Fowler missed a couple.

Missing kicks has been something Pack fans have come to expect in recent seasons after having been spoiled for many years with accurate and sometimes even NFL-level placekickers (Cofer, Hauschka). Sade, while excellent on kickoffs, managed to connect on just over half of his field goal attempts and had two blocked. He also botched a pair of PATs. Baumann, who also had a kick blocked this season, is 90^th in punting distance at the FBS level, which contributes to putting the Pack in a hole in a battle of field position.

If Vanderbilt has a special teams' weakness, it is in the kickoff and return game. Brian Kimbrow was 89^th in return average and managed a long of only 43 yards. Spear only managed a touchback on a little over a third of his kickoffs, though that may have been a strategic decision to try to pin opponents inside the 25. While Palmer's 140.6 all-purpose yards per game is impressive (he ranks fourth nationally), hopefully he will not get too many opportunities to return kicks on December 31^st.

See the chart below for special teams' statistical leaders for both Music City Bowl combatants: