Why Mizzou football struggled in special teams last year — and what could change
A lot went right for Missouri football in 2024. But the Tigers’ special teams unit couldn’t say the same.
That group never directly cost the Tigers any games last season, but neither of the kicking, punting or return units were consistently elite. Blake Craig showed elite range, converting a handful of long kicks, but he also endured rough patches at numerous points in the season. The return game was mostly ineffective, continuing a negative trend that’s spanned several years.
This year, Mizzou is hoping to become far more impactful on special teams, even if the improvement is marginal.
Missouri’s kicking game
Arguably no MU starter had a more topsy-turvy season than Craig, whose redshirt-freshman campaign could be looked at in two ways.
Against teams not named Buffalo, Vanderbilt and Auburn, Craig was 18-for-21 on field goals; he ended the season strong, making 11 of his last 13. He was 7-for-8 from 20-29 yards and 6-for-9 from 50-plus yards.
Craig was awfully clutch. Even amid a rollercoaster performance against the Commodores, Craig still connected on the eventual game-winning field goal in double overtime. Against Iowa in the Music City Bowl, Craig converted 52- and 56-yard field goals in the fourth quarter, and the Tigers went on to win 27-24.
Then, there’s the more negative lens. In those three aforementioned games, Craig was 6-for-13. Craig was also 1-for-7 from 40-49 yards. His 14.3% clip was by far the worst of any college kicker with at least five attempts from that range.
For Craig, 2025 will be about being more consistent. If he’s able to convert more often, he can approach some of the best Mizzou kickers in recent memory.
Plus, it’s not like the Tigers haven’t endured rough patches. Jeff Wolfert, Grant Ressel and Harrison Mevis all did so, but each of them were uber-consistent in their first two seasons as MU’s starting kicker. Wolfert made 39 of his first 45 attempts, Ressel went 43 for his first 46, and Mevis went 43-for-48 across 2020 and 2021.
Craig certainly got requisite playing time last season; his 34 field goal attempts were the most among all FBS kickers. But considering his bumps in the road, there were plenty of positives to take away. A better season in 2025 could elevate him closer to the ranks of Wolfert, Ressel and Mevis.
The Mizzou punters (or punter)
Mizzou only has one rostered punter on scholarship: Stanford transfer Connor Weselman.
His career up to this point has been up and down. He made one appearance as a holder in 2021, didn’t play in 2022 and took most of the starting punting reps in 2023. But he lost his starting spot to Aidan Flintoft prior to last season, and Weselman’s primary role became the holder on field goals.
Now, Weselman will likely take over starting punting duties at Mizzou, a position vacated by Luke Bauer, who was the full-time starter last season. After initially not wanting to continue his football career, Bauer entered the transfer portal and landed at Michigan, where he’s competing for the starting spot.
In Weselman’s lone year as Stanford’s starting punter, he averaged 35 net yards per punt (net yards factor in gains on returns and touchbacks, providing a more accurate measure of a punter’s effectiveness). For reference, Bauer averaged 38.1 net yards per punt in 2024.
The only other punter on MU’s roster is John Butcher, a transfer from Grossmont Community College in California. Butcher is a preferred walk-on, but he’s proven able to boot the ball a long way. While he averaged only 37.3 yards per punt across two seasons at Grossmont, Butcher launched two punts of at least 70 yards, including a 79-yarder last season.
Mizzou will hope to see Weselman on the field as little as possible; the teams whose punters see the most action are oftentimes lagging offensively. The Tigers haven’t punted more than 50 times in a season since 2019, and they’d like to keep that streak alive in 2025.
Kickoff and punt returns
If there’s one facet of the game in which Mizzou has been consistently mediocre in recent years, it’s the return game.
Marcus Murphy’s last season with the Tigers was in 2014. He ended his career as one of the best returners in program history, taking four punts and three kickoffs for touchdowns in four seasons. His average of almost 30 yards per kickoff return led the Southeastern Conference in 2014.
Since then, no Tiger has been able to produce numbers close to Murphy’s as a returner. Richaud Floyd had some big-time punt returns in 2017, and Luther Burden III had some solid highlights on special teams, including a 78-yard punt return touchdown against Abilene Christian in 2022. But no one has produced over the course of an entire season in a long time.
In five of the last seven seasons, the Tigers have finished in the bottom three of the SEC in punt return yards per game.
Entering 2025, Mizzou might have the guy to flip its recent return struggles, at least at punt returner.
While Kevin Coleman Jr. is set to make a major impact in Mizzou’s passing game, he could also give the Tigers a boost in the return game. At each of his three previous schools — Jackson State, Louisville and Mississippi State — Coleman excelled as both a kick and punt returner, although he was mostly on punt return duty.
Last season, he had punt returns of 18 and 30 yards against Eastern Kentucky and a 15-yard return against Arkansas. He also had returns of 22 yards against Florida A&M in 2022 and 26 yards against NC State in 2023.
At Tuesday’s practice, Coleman took first-team reps at punt returner. Behind him was junior Daniel Blood, who took plenty of punt return reps last season but only gained 6 yards on four returns. Following Blood was freshman Shaun Terry II, who had three punt return touchdowns last season at Ironton High School in Ohio.
Kickoffs have also been an issue for Mizzou. The Tigers haven’t finished higher than ninth in the SEC in yards per kick return since 2017. MU’s last kickoff return touchdown came in October 2021 against Tennessee, a 100-yard scamper by Kris Abrams-Draine.
Marquis Johnson, who primarily handled kickoff duties last season, will likely do so again this fall. Josh Manning and Marvin Burks Jr. also helped out on kickoff returns.
Johnson certainly has the speed to create big-time returns. But in order to create those returns, lanes have to be open, and those have been few and far between. Case in point: Johnson got hit hard twice on kickoff returns in last year’s Music City Bowl.
Looking ahead, neither Johnson, Coleman nor anyone else has to be elite in order for Mizzou’s return game to improve. A few more yards on average would be a great help for field positioning, and one big return can change the course of a game.
Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian