It’s the one part of the team which usually ends up making Utah fans want to hurl when they see them on the field.
The special teams.
It’s not so much the special teams as a whole that make fans cringe as much as it is just the placekicker.
“Bryan Borreson is our kicker, and last year he wasn’t a Division I kicker,” first-year head coach Urban Meyer said. “But he’s got Division I talent.”
Last season Borreson connected on 11 of 21 field goal attempts, but made two field goals from 50 yards or more and only missed once from that distance.
He missed four extra points last season, part of why the team finished second-to-last in the conference in extra points.
He’s got a good enough leg, but what really all about is gaining the composure to drill the kick.
Meyer knows that a turnaround is possible for any placekicker.
“My first year at Bowling Green, we went for it on fourth down 29 times,” Meyer said.
“Everybody thought it was because we were really aggressive. We didn’t have a kicker who could kick across the room, but by the next year he was a Lou Groza (Award) finalist.”
The expectations for Borreson do not necessarily include becoming a Groza Award finalist-he will simply be expected to be consistent and not lose games for the team this season.
On the punting side, the Utes lost punter Brian Lewis and are now relying on Matt Kovacevich to help the team in the battle for field position.
Lewis averaged 42.6 yards per kick, which was third-best in the conference, and only had one blocked during the year.
Kovacevich is a transfer from Palomar Junior College in Oceanside, Calif., and Meyer believes he is more than ready to fill Lewis’ shoes.
“If you saw the spring game, you would have seen him hit a couple 60-yarders, and he is a hard worker,” Meyer said.
Since junior Morgan Scalley has moved into a starting role at free safety, he will only be used on the special teams as a kick returner, and will hand over his punt return duties.
Starting cornerback Bo Nagahi, a junior, will fill the other kick returning slot.
Nagahi led the conference last year in kick returning with a 24.8 yard average per return.
Scalley saw limited time at the kick-returning position last year and averaged 21.3 yards in six return attempts.
He really shined at the punt returner position, where he averaged 11.2 yards per return, which was good enough to finish fourth in the conference.
But now, the No. 1 wide receiver on the team, Paris Warren, will take Scalley’s spot as punt returner.
“The coaches have some confidence in me,” Warren said. “They know I returned punts in Oregon in high school, but they don’t know too much.”
Even though the coaches haven’t seen him return, Warren knows he can make things happen when given the chance.
“I think I can be one of the top returners in the conference as long as I stay healthy,” Warren said.
In terms of kickoff and punt coverage, the Utes finished second in the conference last year, behind only the Mountain West champion Colorado State Rams.
If the Utes can just get the placekicking in order, the entire special teams unitshould be a solid group.
In fact, if things fall into place as the coaching staff anticipates, it may actually be a piece of the puzzle that does not hold the Utes back, but actually pushes the team forward.