2024 UCF Football Position Preview: Special Teams

There were times when the UCF Knights; special teams were indeed special in 2023, but there were just as many when they were the opposite. Injuries and straight bad luck plagued UCF toward the end of the season and, and UCF’s close-game troubles occasionally placed an unflattering spotlight on this group of veterans.

So the task is clear: Special Teams must be better all-around for UCF to get the better end of close games in 2023. That begins and ends with the kicking game.

Kicker: Colton Boomer

Colton Boomer does not plan to mess around in 2024.

The fan favorite got off to a hot start in 2023, hitting 10 of his first 13 kicks, including a 4/4 clinic at Boise State where he hit two from 50+ and the game-winner at the gun:

Then he got hurt.

A lower leg injury turned the second half of his season into a nightmare. He made just three of his last eight, and none of those were from longer than 32 yards. A blocked extra point at Texas Tech proved to be the final margin of victory in the Knights’ loss, and though that’s not his fault, it did not leave a pleasant taste either.

While some in the fan base may have lost faith in him after that, Boomer didn’t lose faith in himself. He’s had the offseason to heal up, and he — and Coach Malzahn — expect him to be back in form for 2024.

Nipping at his heels, however, is Boone High grad Grant Reddick, a former Kohl’s Kicking national #1 and five-star who can both kick and punt, and may even take on kickoff duties this season in Boomer’s stead.

Punter: Mitch McCarthy

Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images

The 6-5, 27-year-old Aussie is back for his junior year. Last year, he bumped up his fair catch percentage from 39% to 50%, and although his average dipped from 43.3 yards per kick to 41.3, that’s because his placement improved, with nine punts dropping inside the opponents’ 20 with only two touchbacks.

Long Snapper: Gage King

6-5 veteran Gage King is back for his fifth and final season of college ball, and his second at UCF after arriving from Arizona State. There is nothing to report here other than he was perfect in 2023, not botching a single snap, and graded out as the best long snapper in the Big 12 according to PFF.

Of course, it helps snapping the ball to the equally rangy McCarthy on punts and field goals, since McCarthy is the holder on kicks.

Should all go well again in 2024, King may indeed follow in the footsteps of UCF’s pro long-snappers, Charley Hughlett and Alex Ward.

Returners

Xavier Townsend firmly established himself as the Knights’ returning ace in 2023 and should continue in that role in 2024.

He averaged 9.5 yards on each of his 15 returns, but didn’t score a TD and posted a long of just 29 yards.

UCF’s punt return coverage could use improvement, as the unit was only able to return 17 of the 47 punts they forced despite a rather long opponent’s average of 44 yards per kick. That means the opponents’ punt coverage teams were able to get downfield unhindered more often than not, and either force a fair catch or stop X for a short return.

On the kickoff side, again it should be Townsend and Johnny Richardson as the primary returners. Richardson returned more kicks last year (8), but Townsend had the higher average at 29.5, compared to Richardson’s 18.5. As a team, UCF was 35th in FBS at 21.8 yards per return.

Coverage

Photo: Derek Warden

The issue for UCF last year was kick coverage.

The Knights were 107th in FBS last year in punt return defense, allowing 11.8 yards per return on 14 returns, including one TD allowed. Only Baylor, BYU and K-State were worse in the Big 12, and of those three, only BYU allowed more returns than UCF to begin with. So Special Teams Coach Brian Blackmon must find a way to limit that in 2024.

As far as kickoff coverage goes, Colton Boomer put 50% of his kickoffs into the end zone. But of the 29 kicks that got returned, UCF gave up more than 22 yards per chance, which was 110th in the nation.

The Bottom Line

Barring injury, UCF’s kicking and return specialists are a veteran group. But it’s the coverage teams around them that must do a better job of covering kicks and enabling returns.

Special teams wins and loses games, as UCF found out last year. It will be a factor in 2024 — hopefully for the better.