Sterling Hofrichter’s booming 51-yard punt hung in the air for more than five seconds, granting Jamal Custis ample time to race downfield and front Clemson’s punt returner, Amari Rodgers. Custis stood two yards away, inching closer as Rodgers stepped backward to field Hofrichter’s punt.

When the ball reached Rodgers, it bounced off his chest and onto the grass.  Custis lunged on top of it,  giving Syracuse the ball inside the red zone as the third quarter ended. SU scored on its next drive to begin the fourth. In a game where Syracuse allowed 293 rushing yards and did not score in the final 13 minutes, its special teams kept it competitive.

“Sterling’s a great punter,” Custis said. “He’s giving me time. When you got a guy back there punting like that, it makes my job easier.”

SU’s special teams unit has performed admirably all season, and when Syracuse (4-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) faces North Carolina (1-4, 1-2) this Saturday in the Carrier Dome, it will do so boasting the top special teams unit in the country according to footballoutsiders.com.

“Special teams is huge,” Hofrichter said. “A lot of people don’t give it as much credit as they should.”

During spring practice, Custis approached special teams coordinator Justin Lustig and asked about playing on the punt.

“I just wanted to help my team,” Custis said.

Custis wanted to line up at gunner, a position which lines up near the sidelines during a punt and races downfield to put pressure on the returner. Once there, the gunner either meets the returner at the point of attack or distracts the returner, causing a drop.

Custis chose gunner because he felt it was the position most similar to receiver. At 6-foot-5 and 213 pounds, Custis can race downfield and create opportunities for his team. Syracuse lines Custis up to whichever side Hofrichter is going to punt to, Custis said, and the goal is for Custis to get an outside release off the line.

“You’re not running a route, you’re not focused on a ball coming towards you. All you’re focused on is the offensive player down there,” Custis said. “It lets me go all out and not worry about cutting.”

While Custis has certainly played an integral role as a gunner so far this season, Hofrichter plays a large part in that.

Hofrichter, a three-year starter for SU, is currently ranked 17th in the nation in yards per attempt with 45.12. Nearly 54 percent of Hofrichter’s 28 punts this year have resulted in a fair catch and 46.4 percent of them have wound up inside opponents’ own 20-yard lines. Nine of his punts have gone for at least 50 yards, and only three have ended in touchbacks this season.

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Hofrichter’s hang time regularly provides gunners more than five seconds to get downfield and position themselves while also leading to more fair catches.

SU head coach Dino Babers has often called Hofrichter an “NFL punter,” and someone that has been crucial to SU’s success this season.

There is only one team in the country — Louisiana Tech — that has a negative average punt return. Syracuse’s opponents this season have averaged -1.75 yards per punt return, which if grouped as a team, would make those six opponents the second-worst punt return unit in the nation. The only team with positive return yardage against SU was Florida State, who returned one punt for one yard. And that trend has continued on Hofrichter’s kickoffs, where no team has returned a kickoff to even the touchback line at the 25-yard-line.

On the other side of that unit is punt returner Sean Riley, who took over for Antwan Cordy due to an injury. After taking over the starting job, Riley now has an average punt return of 25 yards, which leads the nation among all returners with at least six returns.

He especially showcased his abilities on the return against Connecticut, where he returned a punt for a 69-yard touchdown — SU’s first punt returned for a touchdown under Babers.

The last area of the special teams, where SU has proven especially effective, is the field goal unit. Andre Szmyt, the kid who “came out of nowhere,” has been one of the top kickers in the country.

Hofrichter was expected to double-down with field goals, too, but when Szmyt “never missed” during fall camp, Babers named Szmyt as the starter, and it’s paid dividends.

Converting at a 94.1 percent clip, Szmyt ranks 10th in the nation in field goal percentage. Of the four names more accurate than him, none have attempted double-digit field goals. Szmyt is also one of the five kickers in the country to convert at least three 50-yard field goals, and one of three to be perfect from 50-plus yards with at least three attempts.

“We do have good special teams, whether it’s one of the top special teams in the country,” Babers said. “I don’t know if that’s true or false. But we feel we have a really good team that helps us win football games.”

Published on October 14, 2018 at 10:05 pm

Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu