He stands on the field all alone, awaiting his moment. The moment when he can showcase his skills and put his team in the best possible position.
As the ball approaches from off the foot of the opposing punter, only one thing goes through the mind of LSU’s wide receiver and punt returner Skyler Green, “Catch it.”
Green is the nation’s leading punt returner with 23.7 yards per return and two touchdowns and has consistently been putting the Tigers in excellent field position since taking over return duties against Florida.
“He’s got great speed and all the inherent abilities that it takes to be a great return man,” said LSU coach Nick Saban. “I think [Green’s ability to return punts] is great for field position.”
Against Alabama on Saturday, Green returned his first punt 26 yards to the Alabama 49-yard line. On his second return, he brought the ball with him for 41 yards up to the Alabama 23-yard line. The Tigers scored on both possessions.
“Every 100 yards of field position you gain, whether it’s special teams or on offense, usually converts into about seven points,” Saban said.
After those first two returns, the Crimson Tide did just what Louisiana Tech learned to do – they began to punt it away from Green.
It worked a few times, as the ball landed out of bounds about 35 yards from the Alabama line of scrimmage. But after a while the fear of Green’s returning ability caught up with the Crimson Tide as Alabama punter Bo Freeland began to shank a few kicks, including a nine-yarder in the third quarter.
If a team does decide to kick to him, Green said after he catches the ball he tries to make the first person miss and then runs toward his blockers.
“I look for my colors and go to them,” he said.
The LSU punt return team is taught to get leverage on the man they block. With their backs turned to Green, he runs to them and then makes his cut.
“I think sometimes when [blockers] have a guy back there who has special abilities, like when we had Domanick Davis, all the other guys get all fired up blocking for him,” Saban said.
Sometimes they get a little too fired up and wind up committing a penalty while trying to spring open their return man, something Davis experienced twice last season after returning punts for touchdowns.
“I wasn’t really mad about it,” Davis said. “They were all hustle plays. I knew they wanted to block real well because of the success we were having.”
Davis said one of the most important aspects of returning kicks is confidence.
“If you have confidence and you take care of the ball, you can make anything happen,” he said.
Davis had confidence last year as one of the nation’s leaders in punt returns, and Green is keeping that tradition going this season.
Besides his punt returning abilities, Green is making noise on offense as well, just like Davis. The 5-foot-9, 189-pound sophomore ranks eighth in the Southeastern Conference with 3.7 catches per game and is ninth in the SEC, averaging 92.1 all-purpose yards per game.
“Skyler is a very instinctive guy as a player,” Saban said. “He’s got great acceleration, and he’s got great running ability with the ball in his hands. He’s got a lot of background and experience at being a runner.”
Green was an option quarterback at Higgins High School and was named First Team All-State for his efforts.
Now he is the top return man in college football.
When Green has the ball in his hands and is running around, between and through potential tacklers on returns, he waits for that moment all returners love.
“It feels good when all you have to do is make the punter miss on your way to the end zone,” Green said. “When you’re in that position, you know you’ve done pretty good.