Kentucky Didn't Punt Away from Texas —  Here's Why

“He does not want him a chance to have a return.” That was what ESPN play-by-play man Dave Flemming, moments before that exact thing happened. With under three minutes left in a tie ballgame, Kentucky gave Ryan Niblett a chance to have a return. He made one man miss, then scampered 43 yards down the field to set up a go-ahead field goal opportunity for Texas.

You cannot say that Niblett single-handedly won two games for Texas, but it was awfully close. His touchdown against Oklahoma was the straw that broke the Sooners’ back. In the first half of the game in Lexington, he was tackled five yards away from the end zone after a 45-yard return, clearing the runway for Texas’s only touchdown of the game.

When Niblett did it for a second time at Kroger Field, you were probably asking loudly, “WHY DID THEY KICK IT TO HIM? JUST KICK HIM OUT OF BOUNDS!”

That sounds easy enough, right? Well, not exactly. Let me explain.

Kentucky has a Good Punt Team

It’s not just a good punt team. The coverage unit is one of the best in college football. The Cats had a Top 10 special teams unit entering the Texas game, allowing 25 yards on 10 punt returns. The first time they faced a comparable threat, they limited South Carolina’s Vicari Swain to -5 yards.

“We had been exceptional in net punting and doing very well all year and had confidence in that,” Mark Stoops said Monday. “We want to attack things the right way and not have to feel like you have to kick it out of bounds, but there are things we certainly will do better.

“We had a guy flat right directly in front of him. He thought he was going to fair catch it. I’d rather have him run right through him.”

Jantzen Dunn was there to make the play. The defensive back from Bowling Green did not run through Niblett. It was more like a hug. Dunn is usually not in that role. Nasir Addison has been the punt team gunner for a couple of years, and the New Jersey native was sidelined by an injury.

Punting Out of Bounds isn’t Easy

Aidan Laros has been a solid punter for the Cats. He’s averaging 45.63 yards per kick, the third-most in the SEC. Twelve of his 27 punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line, and he’s booted a 56-yarder this fall.

It comes with a catch — consistency. Laros has always had a big leg, but sometimes when it leaves his leg, you don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s why he didn’t start for the entire 2024 season. Aside from a punt or two, that hasn’t been an issue this fall. Even so, that’s not something special teams coach Jay Boulware typically wants the punter to do.

“That’s easier said than done, especially when you’re trying to get the ball out against a rush,” Boulware told KSR earlier this month. “When you’re playing a field position game, one of the things Aidan does best is kick it far. It’d be nice to tell him to put it out of bounds until he shanks one and it goes 15 yards.”

Van Hiles played special teams in the SEC and the NFL. During Monday’s KSR Football Podcast, he noted that if a directional punt is called, it can completely cook the unit if the ball is not precisely punted to that direction. It’s a high-risk, high-reward situation that rarely goes according to plan.

“I gotta be real careful about picking and choosing, but that’s certainly something you can look into if the situation arises,” Boulware said.

That situation arose against Texas. Ultimately, Kentucky chose to ride with its exceptional punt coverage team. They did not perform exceptionally well. The Cats gave up 88 punt return yards in one game, almost as many as they had allowed over the last 2.5 years (129).