Maryland's special teams have played extraordinarily this season and between their starting kicker and punter, the Terrapins start two of the best special teams players in the country. Week in and week out it adds up to a scary duo for opposing teams.
Starting place kicker Nick Novak is 12 for 17 on field goal attempts thus far this season, while punter Adam Podlesh has been averaging 44.7 yards per punt. That impressive average ranks the sophomore second in the ACC, and ninth nationally, in punting.
"Adam's done a great job all season," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said, "He's been a weapon for us, and unfortunately we've had to punt a lot."
With a young quarterback behind center, and a streaky offense, the Terps have had to punt a lot. It's no surprise then that the team has had to lean hard on its defense and special teams to produce victories. In recent outings, Podlesh's punts have contributed as much as any defensive stand, helping to pin opposing offenses deep in their own territory. Entering Saturday's game, Podlesh has attracted the attention of the Cavalier coaches.
"The punter is terrific," Virginia head coach Al Groh said. "He does it all the right way. He's got distance. He's got height, and he's got location. He's really a big factor for their team."
With the exception of the Florida State game, Virginia has not been forced to punt very often, and never with the game in jeopardy. Sophomore Sean Johnson has handled the punting responsibilities this season, achieving poor results, only averaging 33 yards per punt.
Consistent punting is something that Virginia has lacked for the past few seasons. The situation became even more dire when starting punter Tom Hagan left the football team to focus on baseball last spring. With that loss, Virginia was left with a choice between true freshman Chris Gould, walk-on sophomore Noah Greenbaum, junior transfer Kurt Korte and Johnson, who just returned this fall from a two-year Mormon mission trip.
During the spring football scrimmage last April, some of the loudest cheers came during special teams for the punters, indicating that fans hoped for a revival in the punting game. The fans haven't been the only ones to notice the punting problems, as fellow players have also mentioned the seriousness of the problem.
"They [Maryland] have a very good punt game," Virginia's punt returner Alvin Pearman said. "That's something we really have to focus on because we're not doing too well in overall punt yards. That difference can really pan out in the course of a game."
The position of punter has been the one spot Groh has not deliberately worked to infuse with new talent during his four years at Virginia. It's fairly common for major college football programs to fill their kicker and punter positions with walk-ons, so coaches can save a scholarship for a "skill position" player -- a practice Groh has followed. Coaches traditionally have not viewed punters as "skill position" players.
"If you really think special teams are important, then you have to be willing to make whatever investments are necessary -- time-wise, personnel-wise, roster-spots-wise," Groh said.
If the punting game continues to struggle, Groh may be forced to spend some of offseason recruiting punt specialists, instead of relying solely on walk-ons. On Saturday, Maryland will aim to prove to the Cavaliers just how important a strong punting game can be.
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