OSU Special Teams Owns Big Share of 44–21 over Boise State

One way to avoid sketchy fair catches is to just block the punt.

Oklahoma State stuffed two punts in its 44-21 victory against Boise State on Saturday, one of which led to a touchdown. The pair of blocked kicks were the 22nd and 23rd OSU has had since the beginning of the 2013 season. That ranks first nationally during that span.

With about five minutes left in the third quarter, Jarrick Bernard blocked Joel Velazquez’s punt on a fourth-and-8 from the Boise State 27. Za’Carrius Green, a captain for OSU on Saturday, grabbed the bouncing ball at the 13 and strolled into the end zone, giving the Cowboys a 34-14 lead.

A quarter earlier, the Cowboys blocked their first punt of the afternoon. Amen Ogbongbemiga blocked the attempted boot. The block started OSU on Boise’s 7-yard line, and it took the Cowboys three plays to score on its ensuing drive.

The Broncos punted five times Saturday. Two were blocked, two were cleanly fair caught and the other was downed at OSU’s 26.

“Sometimes during the week you watch things and you feel like that’s going to work, and then sometime you’re like ‘I’m not real fired up about that,’ Gundy said. “And I felt really good about it all week and we didn’t do it well on Tuesday, but we got it corrected in the meeting, and when we did it again Thursday, the players understood it. They made the adjustments. Angles were really good. Their alignments were really good, and they hit the creases and came off the edge really good, and that’s the key with blocking punts —everybody’s got to be in the right spot.”

Punt blocks weren’t the only good thing the OSU special teams unit had going for it. Matt Ammendola hit field goals from 22, 48 and 23 yards. Ammendola has made his past 17 field goals, including going 6-of-6 so far in 2018.

There were a few misplays. Backup punter Matt Hockett shanked his first punt of the day for only 22 yards. However, Hockett also had boots of 47 and 42 yards. Kickoff specialist Jake McClure had a pair of kickoffs go out of bounds, but he also forced four touchbacks and had the Broncos start inside their 20 twice.

“Special teams obviously was the difference,” Gundy said.