It has been a slow evolution, but the special teams for the Oregon State football team have returned to being an area where games are won, not lost.

Players have adapted to first-year special teams coordinator Dave Ungerer, and the Beavers overcame two key losses in veteran specialists.

The kicking game, coverage teams and returns have become sound with big plays mixed in. There have been three game-changing special teams plays in the last three wins.

“What Dave and the teams have been able to do is eliminate the glaring mistakes,” coach Mike Riley said. “We made big plays on special teams because of alertness. When that part of a game doesn’t have a glaring mistake and there’s a big play, then the picture of the special teams is pretty good.”

Another big special teams play could help the Beavers on Saturday in the regular season finale against Oregon in Autzen Stadium.

That possibility is a far cry from the dismal punting of Alexis Serna early in the season, dropped punt returns and the three fumbles by Gerard Lawson on consecutive kickoff returns against UCLA.

“The players are more comfortable with me, and I’m more comfortable with them,” Ungerer said. “We are on the same page with everything. We had to get some reps at it, and get some game experience. We are just executing better now than earlier in the year. The kids are playing really smart.”

The journey to this point can be easily traced.

It started with Kyle Loomis quitting the team on the eve of training camp. That left the Beavers without their returning starting punter, which forced place-kicker Alexis Serna to punt for the first time since high school.

“The one thing that handcuffed us for a while was we weren’t punting the ball very well,” Riley said. “Alexis has done a great job since the midway point.”

Serna had to get the punting motion down with defensive pressure coming at him. The growing pains were painful with several shanks.

Making it worse was the extra work took away from his field goal kicking as he missed five. Riley almost used emergency walk-on punter Kyle Harper.

Serna has since settled down in both areas and returned to his steady kicking ways.

“People don’t realize how hard it is to punt in general,” Ungerer said. “To find punters in recruiting is hard. You have to go through a lot of guys. Kickers, there’s thousands of them out there. And now you are taking on a skill set that’s difficult, and then adding that to your routine. It was just a matter of him getting more comfortable with himself. And now his execution is a lot better.”

Serna averages only 35.5 yards a punt, and doesn’t rank in the top 100 in the nation. However, he hasn’t been less than his average in the last five games.

The biggest difference is he’s consistent and puts the ball where it’s supposed to be.

“If you know where the ball is being punted, it makes it that much easier for the team to get in position,” Lawson said. “Early on in the season we weren’t sure. We had to assume it was going to be there. Now he’s pretty much dead-on.”

Then Sammie Stroughter was lost for the season with a kidney injury after playing part-time in three games. He missed the season opener with personal problems.

Stroughter was a game-breaker as a four-year punt returner with a 9.5-yard career average. Taylor Kavanaugh has filled it, but he’s not as dynamic as Stroughter. He averages 6.2 yards a return.

“Losing Sammie with that much talent, it throws everything off,” Ungerer said. “Kav has done a wonderful job getting us the ball, but there’s a difference there between someone who is really special and a good guy.”

The kickoff coverage team ranks second in the Pacific-10 Conference and there hasn’t been a punt or kickoff returned for a touchdown on the Beavers.

Little things are starting to make a difference on returns. Opponents have pouched, squibbed and kicked away from Lawson, but the Beavers adapt.

James Rodgers returned a kickoff 31 yards against Washington State, after the whole team made an adjustment with the ball in the air because it was kicked away from the planned return.

“There are things people watching the game don’t, shouldn’t know,” Ungerer said. “You have to have communication on the field. There’s only so much we can do as a staff to prepare them, and then they have to do it on the field. We have awareness now so that we can stop a fake punt or counter what they do on a kickoff. Those are the things that make me proud of our guys.”

Next up for Ungerer is preparing for the Ducks. They have a deep special teams playbook, so he has to have the Beavers ready for everything.

This is the kind of game where trick plays may be used. Many Civil Wars have been decided by who has the better special teams.

The Beavers finally match up well in those areas after a season of retooling.

“We take four-five plays out from the year and it has been a pretty good year, given you lost your punter and Sammie,” Ungerer said. “And I think we got a really good nucleus of young players who are playing at a high level. I feel pretty good where we are at. The kids are having fun and enjoying it. They feel confident now in what we are trying to do.”