From OnlineAthens.com
August 25th, 2016 05:07 PM
Coming to a final decision on its punter for the Sept. 3 season opener may not be as much of an issue for Georgia as containing the guy returning punts for North Carolina.
Freshman Marshall Long--if he indeed holds on to the punting job--will be welcomed to college football by having Ryan Switzer back for the Tar Heels to field the ball that comes off Long’s right leg.
The senior’s next punt return touchdown will tie the NCAA career record of eight held by Wes Welker (Texas Tech) and Antonio Perkins (Oklahoma)
Creating room to run after the catch makes the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Switzer go.
“I feel like I’m the quickest man in college football,” Switzer said. “What I’m able to do in a short area is why I can do what I can do on the field. It bodes well for me to do what I can do at punt return. Obviously (running) too much East and West, there’s fast guys everywhere and eventually they swarm and contain you, but you have to do a little bit of it so you can get North-South eventually.”
Switzer, a wide receiver who led the Tar Heels with 55 catches last season, ranked ninth nationally in punt return average in 2015 at 13.7 yards.
“He’s very shifty,” said Miami punter Justin Vogel, who had Switzer take one of his kicks 78 yards for a touchdown against the Hurricanes last season. “He’s the only guy that’s ever returned a punt on me. I respect him a lot. He’s just a good player. I’ve got to make sure when we’re playing him that we’re ready to go because any mistake is his opportunity.”
Said Switzer: “I was fortunate enough to be blessed with good vision and good anticipation knowing how to send my blocks up and read my blocks. Sometimes you guess and sometimes you guess wrong. …A lot of the times I guess right about where a guy’s going to be or where he might be.”
Punt coverage this preseason hasn’t left Georgia coach Kirby Smart with a comfortable feeling.
“With our depth issue, there are a lot of guys that are starting and playing on special teams,” Smart said Monday at the Touchdown Club of Athens. “I’m a big believer in your best players play on special teams but I also don’t think the starters can play on more than one or two of them. We’ve got an abundance of guys on those which could play a factor especially in a hot game or a high anxiety game like the first one. Guys tend to cramp more. We’ve got to watch that.”
Linebacker Roquan Smith is on the punt coverage unit and said the players will be well aware of an explosive return.
“You’re always going to be on the lookout for that,” Smith said. “We’re just going to do what Georgia does and I’m pretty sure that will take care of everything.”
Switzer heard comparions to Welker--a five-time former NFL Pro Bowler who is also white--back in high school in Charleston, W.Va.
“I don't know why, by the way,” he said. “We don't look alike. To be mentioned with someone like that, the success he's had not just at the college level, but the professional level as well, it just bodes well for my confidence.”
Switzer would love to own the punt return touchdown record all by himself. He had five in 2013 (tying an NCAA single season mark), none in 2014 and two last season.
“The guys and I joke about it all the time,” he said. “We technically already do have it. We got ten of them, but three of them have been called back. At least the 10 guys and I can be satisfied with that.”
Georgia certainly hopes Switzer doesn’t tie the record in the opener.
“North Carolina has an unbelievable returner right there,” Smart said. “The guy may break every record on punt returns in the country and he’s a guy that can really scare you.”
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August 25th, 2016 05:07 PM
Coming to a final decision on its punter for the Sept. 3 season opener may not be as much of an issue for Georgia as containing the guy returning punts for North Carolina.
Freshman Marshall Long--if he indeed holds on to the punting job--will be welcomed to college football by having Ryan Switzer back for the Tar Heels to field the ball that comes off Long’s right leg.
The senior’s next punt return touchdown will tie the NCAA career record of eight held by Wes Welker (Texas Tech) and Antonio Perkins (Oklahoma)
Creating room to run after the catch makes the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Switzer go.
“I feel like I’m the quickest man in college football,” Switzer said. “What I’m able to do in a short area is why I can do what I can do on the field. It bodes well for me to do what I can do at punt return. Obviously (running) too much East and West, there’s fast guys everywhere and eventually they swarm and contain you, but you have to do a little bit of it so you can get North-South eventually.”
Switzer, a wide receiver who led the Tar Heels with 55 catches last season, ranked ninth nationally in punt return average in 2015 at 13.7 yards.
“He’s very shifty,” said Miami punter Justin Vogel, who had Switzer take one of his kicks 78 yards for a touchdown against the Hurricanes last season. “He’s the only guy that’s ever returned a punt on me. I respect him a lot. He’s just a good player. I’ve got to make sure when we’re playing him that we’re ready to go because any mistake is his opportunity.”
Said Switzer: “I was fortunate enough to be blessed with good vision and good anticipation knowing how to send my blocks up and read my blocks. Sometimes you guess and sometimes you guess wrong. …A lot of the times I guess right about where a guy’s going to be or where he might be.”
Punt coverage this preseason hasn’t left Georgia coach Kirby Smart with a comfortable feeling.
“With our depth issue, there are a lot of guys that are starting and playing on special teams,” Smart said Monday at the Touchdown Club of Athens. “I’m a big believer in your best players play on special teams but I also don’t think the starters can play on more than one or two of them. We’ve got an abundance of guys on those which could play a factor especially in a hot game or a high anxiety game like the first one. Guys tend to cramp more. We’ve got to watch that.”
Linebacker Roquan Smith is on the punt coverage unit and said the players will be well aware of an explosive return.
“You’re always going to be on the lookout for that,” Smith said. “We’re just going to do what Georgia does and I’m pretty sure that will take care of everything.”
Switzer heard comparions to Welker--a five-time former NFL Pro Bowler who is also white--back in high school in Charleston, W.Va.
“I don't know why, by the way,” he said. “We don't look alike. To be mentioned with someone like that, the success he's had not just at the college level, but the professional level as well, it just bodes well for my confidence.”
Switzer would love to own the punt return touchdown record all by himself. He had five in 2013 (tying an NCAA single season mark), none in 2014 and two last season.
“The guys and I joke about it all the time,” he said. “We technically already do have it. We got ten of them, but three of them have been called back. At least the 10 guys and I can be satisfied with that.”
Georgia certainly hopes Switzer doesn’t tie the record in the opener.
“North Carolina has an unbelievable returner right there,” Smart said. “The guy may break every record on punt returns in the country and he’s a guy that can really scare you.”
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