2021 Football Special Teams Preview

Photo by: Mike McLaughlin

8/30/2021 4:08:00 PM | Football

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Lions return all key special teams performers from the 2019 squad including return specialist Mike Roussos, punter Drew Schmid, placekicker Alex Felkins, and long snapper Parker Lefton.

NEW YORK—Special Teams play has been one area that the Columbia Football program has achieved consistent excellence and with the coming year, the Lions are counting on a large group of returnees to help bolster a unit led by Special Teams Coordinator Justin Stovall.

Under Stovall from 2015-19, Columbia has established 44 new team and individual special teams school records, led the league 13 times in various special teams categories including blocked kicks, kickoff return average, punt return average, net punting average, kickoff coverage, on-side kicks and PAT kicking, and also ranked among top-20 national leaders in 21 different categories. Meanwhile, a total of three placekickers, four punters and two return specialists have earned All-Ivy League honors during that span and four punters/placekickers graduated from Columbia and pursued a fifth-year of NCAA eligibility at various Southeastern Conference schools.

There is every reason to believe that Columbia's success will continue on special teams as the Lions return experienced, talented and skilled specialists at all key positions: placekicker, punter, long snapper, kickoff returner, punt returner, and kickoff specialist. At least one Columbia player earned an honor on each of the six position categories of the Phil Steele Magazine preseason special teams squad.

The return game is bolstered by Mike Roussos, who enters his third season as a consensus preseason All-America return specialist. Roussos is attempting to become just the fourth player in school history to earn three consecutive First Team All-Ivy League honors. He is also in position to break a variety of punt return, kickoff return, and long records and already holds seven different total school records. As a returner, Roussos has racked up 1,328 career return yards, including 868 kickoff return yards (24.1 yards per return average), and 460 punt return yards for an outstanding 17.7 average. He has three total career return touchdowns, including two off punt returns (91 and 56 yards) and one off a kickoff (87 yards). He is also the only player in school history to score a touchdown on a punt return and kickoff return in the same game and has a school-best six 50-yard returns. In all-purpose yards, he contributes 96.7 yards per game.

All-Ivy Leaguer Drew Schmid returns for his final season to handle all of the Lions' punting duties. With a career 37.50 average per punt, Schmid is primed for another great season to continue Columbia's fine tradition of top punters. His performance against Yale in 2018 remains one of the best punting games in school history as Schmid averaged 44.7 yards over 11 punts and set the school-record for most punts downed inside the 20-yard line (seven). He also appears as Columbia's holder on placekicks.

Two-time preseason First Team All-Ivy and Freshman All-America placekicker Alex Felkins is back for his junior year after he wowed Columbia fans with a superb first-year in 2019. In just the first three games of his rookie season, Felkins kicked two of the top-5 longest field goals in school history as he connected on a 50-yarder at SFU and a 51-yarder at Princeton. He went on to have a super season as he converted nine of 14 field goals, 22 of 24 point after attempts, and led the Lions in scoring with 49 total points. He has also proved to be a superb kickoff specialist, registering 24 touchbacks in 2019.

None of Schmid's and Felkins' achievements could happen without Parker Lefton, who continues Columbia's tradition of top-rate long and short long snappers. The junior was named a preseason All-Ivy League selection in each of the last two years.

The Lions also return a variety of players to their kickoff and punt coverage units, along with field goal and PAT units. Those players include Will Allen, Fara'ad McCombs, Chris Park, Justin Woodley, Jordan Colbert, Cameron Brown, Ryan Rhoden, Graham Flinn, John Harris, Devin Hart, Railan Peace, Scott Valentas, Bryan Bell-Anderson, TJ McGarry, Cameron Burt, and Ryan Hamilton, among others.

Allen, who also is a speedy kickoff returner, has blocked five career kicks, which ranks second in school history. He has his sights set on the career record of seven held by Marc Calveric (1991-93).

Below is a position-by-position look at the 2021 Columbia Lions' Specialists:

SPECIAL TEAMS PERSONNEL
Special Teams Coordinator: Justin Stovall

Mike Roussos, Kickoff Returner/Punt Returner/Return Specialist, Sr.
Consensus preseason Third Team All-America selection as a punt returner for the third consecutive season…Unanimous All-America return specialist…Two-time First Team All-Ivy League selection (2018 as a first-year and 2019) and attempting to become just the fourth player to earn three First Team awards…Over his two-year, 18-game career, accumulated 1,741 all-purpose yards (96.7 per game), scored eight touchdowns, caught 38 passes for 407 yards and registered 868 kickoff return yards (24.1 average) and 460 punt return yards (17.7 average)…Set or tied career school records for most combined 50-yard returns (six), most combined return touchdowns (three), and most kickoff return touchdowns (1)…Led the Ivy League in four statistical categories in 2019…Led Lions with six touchdowns, 1,308 all-purpose yards and totaled six or more games of 100-plus all-purpose yards in 2019…Second Team Freshman All-America in 2018…Consensus First Team All-Ivy League as KOR/PR…Became the first player in school history to return both a punt (91 yards) and kickoff (87 yards) for a touchdown in the same game in season finale vs. Cornell…His 87-yard kickoff return with 45 seconds was the game-winner.

Drew Schmid, Punter, Sr.
Fifth-year senior…Preseason Third Team All-Ivy League punter for the last two seasons…Enters his third season as Columbia's regular punter…Averages 37.5 yards per punt on career (106-3,977)…Ranks among Columbia's all-time career punting leaders in most yards per punt (No. 9), most punt yards (No. 14), and most punt attempts (No. 15)…Registered 44 punts on career placed inside the20-yard line…Averaged 36.2 yards per punt with 13 inside the 20-yard line and three 50-yard punts as a junior in 2019…2018 Second Team All-Ivy League selection as punter, the Lions fourth consecutive punter to earn all-league honors…Led Ivy League in most punts placed inside the 20-yard line (21) and ranked second in punting average (38.8 yards per punt)…Also registered 17 fair catches and four 50-yard punts with a long of 65 yards as a sophomore in 2018.

Alex Felkins, Placekicker, Jr.
Preseason First Team All-Ivy League placekicker for the last two seasons…Earned Third Team Freshman All-America honors by Phil Steele Magazine in 2019…Earned honorable mention All-Ivy League and Second Team All-Ivy by Phil Steele Magazine as a first-year placekicker...Earned an Ivy League Rookie of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week honor in 2019…After only three games at Columbia, became the first kicker in school history to convert two 50-yard field goals and just the fifth player in Ivy League history (since 1956) to convert two 50-yard field goals in a career…Led Lions in scoring with 49 points, converted 9-14 field goals and 22-24 point after attempts in 2019…Also registered 24 touchbacks in 41 kickoffs.

Parker Lefton, Long Snapper, Jr.
Preseason All-Ivy Second Team selection prior to each of the last two seasons…Third Team All-Ivy League selection as a long snapper in 2019 by Phil Steele Magazine…Saw action in 91 plays snapped all of Columbia's punts (53), field goal attempts (14), and point after attempts (24) in 2019.

Andrew Donovan, Punter, Jr.

Will Allen, Kickoff Returner, Sr.
Has not attempted a kickoff return since the 2018 season but still owns school-record with a 25.2 yards per kickoff return average on 831 career kickoff return yards (33 attempts)…91-yard kickoff return vs. Princeton (Sept. 28, 2018) ranks as the eighth longest in school history…Honorable Mention All-Ivy League pick as kickoff returner in 2017…Also has recorded five career blocked kicks, which ranks No. 2 in school history.

Newcomers: William Hughes, PK/P, So.; Matthew Werd, PK/P, Fr.;

Specialists Lost from 2020 Roster: None.