Ohio State Hoping To End Kick, Punt Return Touchdown Droughts

The latter is a prime example of how a special teams can score can quickly turn the momentum in a game, too, as Ohio State trailed 20-14 when Marshall scored his first of four consecutive touchdowns (three receiving) to keep the Buckeyes’ national title hopes alive.

“What’s the saying? ‘If you build it, they will come?’ Something like that,” special teams coordinator Parker Fleming said during his media availability on Wednesday evening. “We’re just going to keep working. We’ve got a returning starter at kick returner (in sophomore wide receiver Emeka Egbuka) and he got close a couple times last year, but close means nothing.

“We’re working every day. That’s what we’re working toward. But really, at the end of the day, we just want to have positive field position. If we make the last guy miss, that’s a big bonus. But we’re really trying to get drives started in the right way. That’s our goal.”

As Fleming mentioned, Ohio State came extremely close to ending one of those droughts last season, as Egbuka broke a 67 yarder in the 66-17 win over Maryland. He nearly broke one on his final return of the Rose Bowl, as well, but was brought down by the last defender.

“I just tell him, ‘Get vertical, man. Just be a ball player,’” Fleming said of Egbuka, who led the Big Ten with an average of 29.0 yards per return. “I don’t tell him too much. We give him direction, we give him scheme and then we tell him, ‘Hey, man. You do you. Be a great player. Be a great athlete. Be a great ballcarrier, and just finish strong.’ That’s all we care about. Wherever it goes, it goes.”

Punt return opportunities are a bit more limited, meanwhile, as Ohio State returned just 22 punts for an average of 5.1 yards with former wide receiver Garrett Wilson and junior Jaxon Smith-Njigba sharing the duties.

Fleming acknowledged there’s somewhat of a balancing act when it comes to someone like Smith-Njigba – the Buckeyes’ top wide receiver – playing special teams, which could lead to an opportunity redshirt sophomore safety Cameron Martinez, who scored more than 100 touchdowns as a dual-threat high school quarterback.

“As a coach, who wouldn’t want the best players (on the field) at all times? But I also know there’s a big game going on. I have to be aware of that,” Fleming said. “We have a bunch of skilled athletes who can catch punts, but at the end of the day, we’re going to do what’s best for the team.”

That said, Fleming isn’t necessarily focused on returning kicks and/or punts for touchdowns any more than he is on making things easier for the offense on a drive-by-drive basis. It would be nice to get that monkey off their backs, though.

“Our job is to gain positive field position for the offense,” Fleming reiterated, “but those are bonuses that we’re striving for.”

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