Gazette-Times Reporter

EL PASO, Texas - The first thing that jumped out at Oregon State football coach Mike Riley when he started learning about the opponent for the Sun Bowl was special teams.

It wasn't just the kicker or a return man. It was that Pittsburgh blocked 10 kicks - three extra points, three field goals and four punts.

A memo was quickly sent to special teams coach Dave Ungerer about not letting that happen Wednesday. The outcome hangs in the balance.

"Pittsburgh, like the Beavers, won a lot of close games," Riley said. "I think their special teams played a major part in turning points of those games. And often times in a bowl game, a team that can turn the tide that way has the advantage."

Fourth-year Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt said he believes one of the best ways to make a quick impact when rebuilding a program is on special teams, so he made it a focus early. The Panthers spend almost as much time on the special teams as they do on offense and defense.

"It's their plan," Ungerer said. "You don't block 10 kicks by being lucky. They bring a lot of pressure. And they have a knack for it and are really slippery and find a way to get in there. They've taken advantage of a lot teams."

Wannstedt plays a bigger role in special teams than most coaches. After three assistant coaches left the Panthers in the offseason, the easiest solution for him was running the special teams.

"We changed up the schemes and did different things, but you've got to have players that can do that, and to block a kick, that's amazing," Wannstedt said. "We spend an awful lot of time on teaching the details of how much push to get, what angle we need to be at, to be in the best position to block it."

Greg Romeus blocked the three extra points; Andrew Taglianetti blocked three of the four punts. Four others have been part of breaking up the kicking game.

So with that going for the Panthers, Ungerer reemphasized OSU's blocking rules, and worked his players hard before getting to El Paso. Now it's a matter or reminding them, and hoping they can cope with Pittsburgh's speed.

"We put a lot of emphasis in our preparation in protection, but we know they are going to bring something different we haven't seen this year because they had a long preparation time," Ungerer said. "We have to be sound in what we do, not so much change anything we do. But ready for a wide variety of things."

Pittsburgh also has one of the nation's better place-kickers, Conor Lee. He ranks fifth nationally in field goals made with 1.67 a game, making 87 percent of his attempts. He's perfect on extra points in his career, converting a school-record 113 in a row.

Getting to a kicker or punter is something the Beavers have done once this season. If they can be the ones in the kicking backfield instead of the Panthers the game should turn in their favor.

Lee and punter Dave Brytus, who averages 40.2 yards, pin opponents back. And that leads to another issue for the Beavers.

Patrick Henderson makes his debut as the primary kickoff returner with James Rodgers out with a broken collarbone. Chris Johnson joins him as the other returner.

Henderson averages 28.1 yards on 10 returns; it's Johnson's first work in this role.

"It's not easy without James," Ungerer said. "He's such a good player, and had a good year. I thought we were hitting our stride the last four or five weeks with good returns. But Patrick has had a good season, too, so hopefully he'll respond to the challenge."