Can Minnesota Golden Gophers Go in for the Kill in 2014?

Special Teams

What do you need with an offense built around defense and ball control? A great kicking game. The Golden Gophers had that last year, but only one-half of it returns. However, that’s the better half.

Punter Peter Mortell was 23rd in the nation last year in yards per punt at 43.3 and 21 of his 62 punts were downed inside the 20. He’ll be

Sep 14, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers wide receiver K.J. Maye (1) runs a punt back past Western Illinois Leathernecks kicker Nathan Knuffman (33) in the fourth quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gophers won 29-12. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

the most valuable player in a bend but don’t break defense because field position will matter. He also is 14th in average yards per punt among returning starters. Don’t be surprised if he’s on the watch for the Ray Guy Award by the end of the 2014 season if he matches or improves upon his production from last year.

At kicker, Chris Hawthorne will be missed after going 14 of 18 last year with 2 of those misses from beyond 50 yards. He only had 1 miss from 40 to 49 yards and 2 misses from 30 to 49 yards. He was perfect under 30. Replacing him appears to be redshirt freshman Ryan Santoso, who kicked a 53-yarder in Spring Practice, according to reports. Santoso appears to have the potential to be great, but like I’ve said in the past, first-year kickers always have growing pains.