Indiana University Athletics
Allen, Hoosiers Stepping Forward with Special Teams
9/20/2017 9:16:00 PM | Football
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - J-Shun Harris II. Soothsayer.
Harris, already known for making magic on football fields, added prognostication to his overt skill set Sept. 9 at Virginia.
"Before going out there, I was telling guys, 'Yo, I feel like this is going to be a touchdown right here,' " Harris recalled Tuesday. "Thankfully, it all worked out."
Indeed. Harris' 44-yard punt return TD with 5:56 to play clinched IU's 34-17 victory.
And it helped fulfill what Harris says are Indiana's three primary directives for its special teams:
"Make game-changing plays."
"Be at our best when it counts the most."
"Provide the winning edge."
For the Hoosiers special teams as a whole at Virginia, it was:
Check.
Check.
Check.
Harris, the fleet redshirt junior from Fishers now full-throttle after rehabilitating two ACL knee injuries, also had a nifty 43-yard return earlier that set up Indiana's second touchdown. But he was hardly the only shining light on IU's special teams.
Fifth-year senior kicker Griffin Oakes capped a momentum-shifting second quarter for IU by drilling a 51-yard field goal into the wind on the last snap of the half. He then delivered Indiana's first points of the second half with a 48-yarder, again against the wind.
Redshirt sophomore punter Haydon Whitehead booted seven times for a 43.7-yard average, placing four punts inside the 20 (three of those inside the 10).
So it was no surprise that Harris was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week, or that Whitehead was added to the Ray Guy Award Watch List.
And it seemed entirely appropriate that Oakes would become IU's career field goal leader with a key 51-yarder, and he now stands with 55 makes in 75 attempts for his career (.733), while also booting virtually half his kickoffs for touchbacks (102-of-206) and converting 116-of-122 extra point tries (.951).
All those specialists always readily cite the guys doing the blocking for them.
Harris noted that his punt return TD was a matter of catching a returnable punt with some momentum and roaring unscathed up the middle of the field through a blocking-cleared path.
"I was going, 'Oh, yeah, this is one," Harris recalled. "First-off, I noticed the guy had out-kicked his coverage. And a lot of those guys ran to the boundary (side of the grid). So, the way it was set up, it was kind of perfect for us to go to the field side. It opened up perfectly."
And Harris found pay dirt again after two injury-interrupted years.
"It was awesome," he said of the feeling that engendered. "I was a little surprised. It was, 'Oh, oh, this feels kind of weird.'
"Just everybody slapping me on the head kind of brought me back to reality and, once I got back to the sideline, I was just very thankful to be back out there and having those guys blocking to just make it perfect and easy to get to the end zone."
Oakes, well aware of the injury tribulations Harris has endured, said: "It's great to see J-Shun back, because that's an amazing story in itself."
Harris, in turn, complimented Oakes for help setting the tone for a successful special teams day with his long-range field goals.
"We put so much emphasis on special teams," Harris said, "and then seeing Griffin Oakes go out there and make those big kicks, it felt like that's what we needed."
IU coach Tom Allen concurred.
"Just was huge," Allen said of Oakes' catalytic performance. "That kick before half, 51-yard field goal into the wind. They put a returner back because it was such a long field goal. There were a couple comments on the sideline, 'Do we take a Hail Mary here because of the wind?'
"I believed in him. I said, 'Let's kick it.' He nailed it. Nailed another 48-yarder into the wind, which was big as well. Put him in position to be the all-time career field goal leader in our program's history … we're really excited for him, encouraged by his performance."
While passing due plaudits around, Allen also cited Whitehead's punting.
"He's only had four punts returned on him in the 16 he's punted, for a 27-yard total (return yardage)," Allen said of Whitehead's season stats. "He's doing a great job of controlling the ball, putting us in a position, pinning down (the opposition). He's got four inside the 10 already in two games, which is huge, and several inside the 20. That performance is duly noted.
"He's one of the hardest working specialists I've ever been around. As a matter of fact, we have to hold him back. If he doesn't have the kind of day he wants, he'll be out here practicing at night. I have to go out there and say, 'You've kicked enough.' "
Whitehead boots the ball with what he calls a boot. An Aussie from Melbourne, for him a shoe is a "boot."
But from a complete cultural standpoint, Whitehead hasn't found the transition to American college football overly daunting.
"One thing I've noticed that's been a bit easier than I thought was just adjusting to life in a different country," he said Tuesday. "The culture is really similar to what it is back home, being a Westernized society. It really hasn't been hard to fit in, at all.
"The kicking style I'm doing now, the rugby-style kick, is almost exactly the same as it is back home."
After playing Australian Rules Football for 15 years, Whitehead pursued an interest in American football after younger brother Nick started playing quarterback for a club team.
Whitehead trained at Prokick Australia, drew interest from IU, and made his first-ever trip to the United States for a recruiting visit to Bloomington last December.
"It was a far way to fly for a 42-hour visit or whatever it was," Whitehead recalled. "I think I was on the plane longer than I was actually here. But it was good to get over here to meet all the coaches. Prior to that, I'd only had contact with them on Skype and that sort of thing."
Whitehead's father, older sister and aunt all made the long journey to see him make his American football debut Aug. 31 against Ohio State.
"It was my sister and my aunt's first time to the States," Whitehead said. "My dad had only been here once before. But they had obviously never seen a college football game, let alone the Ohio State game.
"They said it was an awesome experience. I think they were more overwhelmed by it than I was, because, in a sense, I kind of knew how big it was going to be, but they didn't really have any idea. They loved it."
Whitehead seems to be enjoying his stint in the States, too, sometimes rendering folks back home awe-struck by sending them photos of the meal portions available here.
Allen would love to extend Whitehead's stay. The punter is listed as a redshirt sophomore but, because his previous school didn't offer American football, IU has appealed with the NCAA to grant him a full four years of eligibility.
Whitehead credited Oakes and other special teams personnel for welcoming him into the IU fold when he enrolled last January, along with JUCO linebacker Michael McGinnis, who came in the same day.
"(Oakes) showed me around and helped me get used to the school," Whitehead said. "He was really good. He's an older guy who knows how it all works. He probably knew I was a little bit nervous, so he was really good – he helped me adjust and now we're really close friends."
And Harris has readjusted, after two years of tough rehabilitation work on the sidelines, to regain his place in IU's playing rotations. He and everybody else is happy about that.
"I'm rolling now," Harris said with a smile. "At practice, I'm talking a lot more, joking around a lot more, just feeling like my old self again."
And if part of what Harris is saying involves predictions, chances are his teammates will pay close attention.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - J-Shun Harris II. Soothsayer.
Harris, already known for making magic on football fields, added prognostication to his overt skill set Sept. 9 at Virginia.
"Before going out there, I was telling guys, 'Yo, I feel like this is going to be a touchdown right here,' " Harris recalled Tuesday. "Thankfully, it all worked out."
Indeed. Harris' 44-yard punt return TD with 5:56 to play clinched IU's 34-17 victory.
And it helped fulfill what Harris says are Indiana's three primary directives for its special teams:
"Make game-changing plays."
"Be at our best when it counts the most."
"Provide the winning edge."
For the Hoosiers special teams as a whole at Virginia, it was:
Check.
Check.
Check.
Harris, the fleet redshirt junior from Fishers now full-throttle after rehabilitating two ACL knee injuries, also had a nifty 43-yard return earlier that set up Indiana's second touchdown. But he was hardly the only shining light on IU's special teams.
Fifth-year senior kicker Griffin Oakes capped a momentum-shifting second quarter for IU by drilling a 51-yard field goal into the wind on the last snap of the half. He then delivered Indiana's first points of the second half with a 48-yarder, again against the wind.
Redshirt sophomore punter Haydon Whitehead booted seven times for a 43.7-yard average, placing four punts inside the 20 (three of those inside the 10).
So it was no surprise that Harris was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week, or that Whitehead was added to the Ray Guy Award Watch List.
And it seemed entirely appropriate that Oakes would become IU's career field goal leader with a key 51-yarder, and he now stands with 55 makes in 75 attempts for his career (.733), while also booting virtually half his kickoffs for touchbacks (102-of-206) and converting 116-of-122 extra point tries (.951).
All those specialists always readily cite the guys doing the blocking for them.
Harris noted that his punt return TD was a matter of catching a returnable punt with some momentum and roaring unscathed up the middle of the field through a blocking-cleared path.
"I was going, 'Oh, yeah, this is one," Harris recalled. "First-off, I noticed the guy had out-kicked his coverage. And a lot of those guys ran to the boundary (side of the grid). So, the way it was set up, it was kind of perfect for us to go to the field side. It opened up perfectly."
And Harris found pay dirt again after two injury-interrupted years.
"It was awesome," he said of the feeling that engendered. "I was a little surprised. It was, 'Oh, oh, this feels kind of weird.'
"Just everybody slapping me on the head kind of brought me back to reality and, once I got back to the sideline, I was just very thankful to be back out there and having those guys blocking to just make it perfect and easy to get to the end zone."
Oakes, well aware of the injury tribulations Harris has endured, said: "It's great to see J-Shun back, because that's an amazing story in itself."
Harris, in turn, complimented Oakes for help setting the tone for a successful special teams day with his long-range field goals.
"We put so much emphasis on special teams," Harris said, "and then seeing Griffin Oakes go out there and make those big kicks, it felt like that's what we needed."
IU coach Tom Allen concurred.
"Just was huge," Allen said of Oakes' catalytic performance. "That kick before half, 51-yard field goal into the wind. They put a returner back because it was such a long field goal. There were a couple comments on the sideline, 'Do we take a Hail Mary here because of the wind?'
"I believed in him. I said, 'Let's kick it.' He nailed it. Nailed another 48-yarder into the wind, which was big as well. Put him in position to be the all-time career field goal leader in our program's history … we're really excited for him, encouraged by his performance."
While passing due plaudits around, Allen also cited Whitehead's punting.
"He's only had four punts returned on him in the 16 he's punted, for a 27-yard total (return yardage)," Allen said of Whitehead's season stats. "He's doing a great job of controlling the ball, putting us in a position, pinning down (the opposition). He's got four inside the 10 already in two games, which is huge, and several inside the 20. That performance is duly noted.
"He's one of the hardest working specialists I've ever been around. As a matter of fact, we have to hold him back. If he doesn't have the kind of day he wants, he'll be out here practicing at night. I have to go out there and say, 'You've kicked enough.' "
Whitehead boots the ball with what he calls a boot. An Aussie from Melbourne, for him a shoe is a "boot."
But from a complete cultural standpoint, Whitehead hasn't found the transition to American college football overly daunting.
"One thing I've noticed that's been a bit easier than I thought was just adjusting to life in a different country," he said Tuesday. "The culture is really similar to what it is back home, being a Westernized society. It really hasn't been hard to fit in, at all.
"The kicking style I'm doing now, the rugby-style kick, is almost exactly the same as it is back home."
After playing Australian Rules Football for 15 years, Whitehead pursued an interest in American football after younger brother Nick started playing quarterback for a club team.
Whitehead trained at Prokick Australia, drew interest from IU, and made his first-ever trip to the United States for a recruiting visit to Bloomington last December.
"It was a far way to fly for a 42-hour visit or whatever it was," Whitehead recalled. "I think I was on the plane longer than I was actually here. But it was good to get over here to meet all the coaches. Prior to that, I'd only had contact with them on Skype and that sort of thing."
Whitehead's father, older sister and aunt all made the long journey to see him make his American football debut Aug. 31 against Ohio State.
"It was my sister and my aunt's first time to the States," Whitehead said. "My dad had only been here once before. But they had obviously never seen a college football game, let alone the Ohio State game.
"They said it was an awesome experience. I think they were more overwhelmed by it than I was, because, in a sense, I kind of knew how big it was going to be, but they didn't really have any idea. They loved it."
Whitehead seems to be enjoying his stint in the States, too, sometimes rendering folks back home awe-struck by sending them photos of the meal portions available here.
Allen would love to extend Whitehead's stay. The punter is listed as a redshirt sophomore but, because his previous school didn't offer American football, IU has appealed with the NCAA to grant him a full four years of eligibility.
Whitehead credited Oakes and other special teams personnel for welcoming him into the IU fold when he enrolled last January, along with JUCO linebacker Michael McGinnis, who came in the same day.
"(Oakes) showed me around and helped me get used to the school," Whitehead said. "He was really good. He's an older guy who knows how it all works. He probably knew I was a little bit nervous, so he was really good – he helped me adjust and now we're really close friends."
And Harris has readjusted, after two years of tough rehabilitation work on the sidelines, to regain his place in IU's playing rotations. He and everybody else is happy about that.
"I'm rolling now," Harris said with a smile. "At practice, I'm talking a lot more, joking around a lot more, just feeling like my old self again."
And if part of what Harris is saying involves predictions, chances are his teammates will pay close attention.
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