MOORHEAD, Minn. (8/27/06)-- Horan breaks down the special teams: "We tried to see if we could get Brian Halverson one more year of eligibility but unfortunately his time was up. What will hurt even more than the loss of Brian (Schumacher) is the loss of three-time all-conference kicker Brian Halverson. We will have to rely on a freshman and you never know what could happen.”

Once again excitement will return to the Cobber kicking game. Gone are the days when field goals were routine and a missed extra point was treated like a sighting of Halley’s Comet. Enter a pack of first-year kickers that will be looking to fill the boots of the greatest kicker in Cobber history. Halverson has his name strewn across the Cobber record book for points scored, field goals and just about anything imaginable when it comes to kicking. He was the school’s all-time leading scorer and rarely missed a field goal attempt.

Time will tell how reliable his replacement will be, but until one of the newcomers proves his mettle, Horan could find himself stuck in a time warp back in the 2001 season.

Another key ingredient lost to graduation is the kickoff abilities of Jeff Jungers. Jungers, the team’s kickoff specialist, consistently knocked the ball high and deep on kickoffs and allowed the coverage team to pin the opposition deep in their own territory. Jungers averaged 51.2 yards per kickoff, and the opposition’s average starting field position was their own 28-yard line.

Not all is lost for the Cobber special teams. Kevin Williamson returns for another season as the team’s top punter. Williamson’s unique style of punting helped him finish fifth in the MIAC with a 36.4 yards per punt average. Williamson had only one punt blocked all season and was able to knock the ball inside the 20-yard line on 11 occasions – one of the top punters in the league in that department.

Also returning for the Cobber special teams are holder Jesse Nelson and long snapper Brett Abrhamson. In his first year, Nelson came into the special teams and did a great job of handling all the snaps and placing the ball for Halverson's record run. Abrahamson was thrust into the role as the team's long snapper and did a terrific job in getting the ball back to Williamson in pressure situations.

Running back Cory Johnson was one of the team’s top kick return men. He averaged 16.6 yards per return and had a long return of 32 yards. Levi DeVries will return to handle the punt return duties. He was third in the league in return average, and had an average of 9.2 yards per return in the team’s eight league games.