Parking your car outside Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium might have you hear the traffic of Greenland Drive zoom by. Walk a little farther to hear the crash of pads and helmets and the shrill blasts whistles of fall camp on the practice grass behind Reese Smith Jr. Field.
But a little farther, through the iron gates of Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium, and all of the sound of the outside fades away. Here you can just hear the rhythmic "thud" of boot meeting leather, only broken up by the occasional bit of laughter from those working.
It's like you can sometimes hear a pin drop, punter Kyle Ulbrich acknowledges, but he knows he and his fellow specialists wouldn't have it any other way.
"When you're out there and no one else is there, you want that to be the kind of place you go to when you're in Virginia Tech or you're at a bigger stadium and everyone's screaming," Ulbrich said. "You want to just be able to just go to a place where you don't hear that kind of noise."
The Blue Raiders specialists — punters, kickers and long snappers — have spent hours on the turf of Floyd Stadium in this year's camp, working on the repetition required to perfect their technique ahead of the team's opener against Monmouth on September 4. They'll often get drills in with the full team early in practice, then move on to their personal drills, before getting some game simulation reps towards the end of practice each day.
Special teams has been a point of emphasis for the whole team this season, special teams coach Mike Polly said, and the energy and juice that has come from that has been great early on.
"The one benefit of COVID has been that we have more players right now than we've ever had," Polly said. "More scholarship guys than we've ever had. So there should be more guys on our special teams units. We should be deeper, we should be better, our scout team should be better, because there should be better players on those teams."
That added depth has trickled down from the specialists competing for the job down to the blockers, the gunners, the linemen and returners working on special teams during team drills.
"It's really nice, especially because I've got so many other people encouraging me," freshman kicker Zeke Rankin said. "Coming off a bad kick during team (drills), I had three or four guys come up to me like 'you're good, you're good, don't worry about it.'"
Rankin, who did not appear in a game last year as a true freshman, is battling for the starting job at place kicker after the graduation of three-year starter Crews Holt alongside Charleston Southern transfer Alex Usry. Usry, the 2019 Big South Special Teams player of the year, is a proven player at the collegiate level, holding the CSU record for longest field goal with his 52-yarder against North Alabama in 2019. But early results from this camp's practices and scrimmages have the two neck-and-neck with one another in their position battle.
"We'll see when the lights come on," head coach Rick Stockstill said. "I think both of them are talented kids. Obviously, Alex has done it already at the college level. Zeke's just done it as a practice player. But Zeke has been very consistent. Alex is starting to get more consistent."
While Usry has the advantage of collegiate experience, Rankin has the advantage of familiarity with all the little details that affect a kicker, from their holder, to their long snapper, to even switching from turf to grass when kicking on the practice field. Since CSU played in the spring, Usry has had less time to adjust than a typical transfer player would, but is starting to get to a level of comfort with his new surroundings.
"Repetition, watching film, minute details, things like that," Usry said of what's key for him building up his comfort levels. "It's a little different, but the key is definitely comfortability. I've got to get my chemistry back with my holder and get used to things."
Rankin is already learning from the veteran he's competing with, complimenting the McDonough, Ga. native's calm and poise when kicking.
On the punting side, preseason Ray Guy Award List honoree Ulbrich is still dominating at the position, regularly blasting the ball over 40 yards from the line of scrimmage, often with pinpoint accuracy, after averaging 43.8 yards per punt a season ago, with 13 punts over 50 yards. He's working on his consistency, particularly with his drop before the kick, to ensure that even if something like a bad snap happens during the game, he can adjust.
Second scrimmage of fall camp is
— Middle Tennessee FB (@MT_FB) August 21, 2021
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"He gets good hang time, he's accurate, where we want him to place the ball," Stockstill said. "I've just been very very pleased with Kyle, not only this camp, but with everything he did last year. He's a really good punter. He's got a chance to have a great year."
Returners, both on the kickoff and punting side, remain an open battle, with a plethora of Blue Raiders taking reps during live drills during camp. It's a typical mix of running backs, receivers and defensive backs all competing for the job. Kickoffs, likewise, are open as well, though returning kickoff specialist Scott Payne appears to have a leg up on the competition.
As a core, the specialists of Middle Tennessee's team are a fun-loving group, often playing pool in the team's locker room before and after practice, Usry said. But their coach Mike Polly knows that when they've strapped on the helmets this camp, they've come to work.
"I think the guys have attacked it every day so far with the mentality of trying to get better," Polly said. "We've got some new specialists, we've got some old specialists, and those guys are doing a good job. Just like everything else, we've just got to get a little bit better every day."
Cover photo of Kyle Ulbrich by Kaitlyn Hungerford/MT Athletic Communications
Photo of special teams unit by Emily Cole/MT Athletic Communications
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