Senior making case to lead on special teams
South Carolina’s second scrimmage of spring practice Saturday ended with a “win” for the offense.
The unit’s margin of victory over the defense was Jay Wooten’s right foot.
Wooten, a redshirt senior, kicked a field goal on the last play of the session to send the offense off the field as victors after being roughed up by the defense a week prior. He also kept himself squarely in contention to continue kicking and, according to coach Steve Spurrier,punting once the fall rolls around.
Spurrier recently said Wooten, who transferred to USC from North Carolina in 2009, is leading fellow kickers Adam Yates and Joey Scribner-Howard to be the team’s placekicker and kickoff specialist.
That wasn’t much of a shock, considering Wooten handled the bulk of USC’s kickoffs last year, recording five touchbacks. Plus, Wooten has a good amount of Division-I experience from his days as a Tar Heel before he left Chapel Hill for USC, his parents’ alma mater. What did surprise somewhat was that Spurrier said Wooten is ahead of redshirt freshman Patrick Fish to be USC’s punter as well.
If Wooten were to win both position battles, he would follow in the footsteps of departed senior Spencer Lanning, who acted as both kicker and punter the past two seasons for the Gamecocks, averaging 44.1 yards per punt last year along with 51 PAT conversions and 17 field goals.
Wooten said he doesn’t think of himself as a favorite for either spot.
“I really don’t consider that at all,” Wooten said. “It’s very early. There’s a lot of time there [before the season]. I think we’ve all been hitting the ball pretty well as a group.”
If Wooten does end up pulling double-duty, he will have some familiarity with doing so. While playing at Scotland County High in Laurinburg, N.C., Wooten did both. In the process, he learned how a kicker must handle the dual responsibilities and remain in-tune with the flow of the game.
“Kicking field goals or doing punts — you can kind of sit back and just work on one or the other,” Wooten said. “You’ve got to kind of move with the offense [doing both]. See where the ball is and [think], ‘OK, am I going to kick? Am I going to punt?’”
Assuming he does kick and punt once the season starts, Wooten will have a good blueprint of how to handle the rigors of acting as both, thanks to his time with Lanning the past two seasons. The USC kickers and punters keep to themselves for almost the entirety of every practice, so there was ample time for Lanning’s work habits to rub off and impress upon Wooten.
“Spencer did a great job handling both things,” Wooten said. “He was as talented as they come, and he definitely had a good work ethic and approach to being ready for both.”
If his number gets called, Wooten will be counted on to do the same.