Spring Football Outlook: The Special Teams
3/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Junior Travis Mayle, who earned Freshman All-America Honorable Mention two years ago, returns for his third season. Mayle hit on 16-of-24 field goal attempts with a career-long 44-yarder against UCF and converted a school-record 33 PATs, accounting for 81 points for the Golden Flashes. His 1.33 field goals per game was good for second in the MAC and 26th in the nation, and his 16 total field goals placed him second in the KSU single-season record book.
Mayle booted game-winning kicks twice last fall, beating local rival Akron with a 40-yarder as time expired and drilling a 33-yard attempt with 13 seconds remaining to defeat Youngstown State. After only two seasons, Mayle ranks third in Kent State history with 28 career field goals, just seven shy of the school record held by Dave Pavich and Paul Marchese.
Junior punter Joshua Brazen returns after averaging 40.4 yards per punt last season, ranking seventh in the MAC and fifth in the Kent State single-season record book. Originally a walk-on, Brazen emerged last year as a dependable commodity, pinning the opponent inside the 20-yard line on 15 occasions. Brazen averaged 41.9 yards per punt over the last nine games of the campaign.
The Golden Flashes also return a top return specialist in sophomore Jon Drager. Last season, he was ninth in the MAC in yards per punt return, averaging 7.2 per attempt, while also averaging 20.1 yards per kickoff return, which ranked second on the team. Dragers longest punt return of the season, a 34-yarder against Akron, setup the game-winning field goal in the final seconds. Senior Antonio King also returns to the kickoff return duties after ranking sixth in the conference at 21.4 yards per return on 25 attempts. He had a season-long of 47 yards. Seniors David Alston (25.0 ypr) and Darrell Dowery Jr. (31.0 ypr) also return and could be in the mix of kickoff returners.
Senior Damian Stolowski returns to handle the long-snapping duties.
