BC Special Teams Preview

The Boston College special teams unit quietly had a very successful year last season.  After being down right horrible in the kicking game in 2014 and 2015, the Eagles seemed to turn a corner in the kicking game. Staring kicker Mike Knoll only missed 2 field goals all season which included one that was blocked.  Myles Willis and Tyler Rouse also were effective in the return game.  Overall football outsiders ranked BC as having the 43^rd best special teams unit, a huge improvement over 2015 when they were ranked 116. With Mike Knoll back, the kicking should be just as efficient, but the Eagles will need to find a new return man. 

Mike Knoll 
2016 Stats: 12-14 on FG, long of 40, 27-30 on Extra Points, 94 Punts, average of 38.3, 18 inside 20 

2017 Preview:  Knoll was very effective kicking in field goals last year for the Eagles.  He only missed 2 kicks, with one of those being blocked.  This was a huge improvement for a BC team who seemingly couldn’t hit anything in 2014 and 2015.  The key for him is to continue to be accurate on close kicks, allowing BC to score points on every trip into the red zone.  An area of improvement for Knoll, will be working on his power.  His career long is only 40 yards, and he averaged less than 40 yards per punt. 

Overall: As long as Knoll keeps up with last year’s improvement, the Eagles should be fine on field goals and extra points.  An unknown for BC will be in the return game.  The two main return men, Myles Willis and Tyler Rouse, graduated after last season.  Michael Walker returned kicks in 2015 but his workload may be too much for him to do it again.  Another thing to look for is former soccer player Maximilian Schulze-Geisthovel is on the roster as a kicker this season.  He has reportedly been very strong on kickoffs, and it would not be surprising to see him becomes the kickoff specialist.