AUSTIN — Hidden among all the struggles Texas Longhorns The most important reason for the 30-15 loss against the Georgia Bulldogs last week was the team’s problems in the punt game.

Ian Ratliff took over punting duties for the second consecutive game as starting punter Michael Kern continued to recover from his injury. He was solid on three punts in a 34-3 win over Oklahoma, but some poor kicks against Georgia made things a little easier for the Bulldogs offense, which had issues against Texas’ defense.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said he is hopeful Kern will return for Saturday’s meeting with No. 25 Vanderbilt. In a game where possession is limited due to the Commodores’ offensive style, Kern’s footwork could be key.

“We’re hopeful that Michael will be ready to go,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “I thought he had a couple of good practices in a row. But we’ll still go into game day and evaluate them both on the field and decide who goes there.”

Although Texas’ turnover issues played the biggest role in giving Georgia short fields on offense, Ratliff’s two punts earned the Bulldogs a pair of field goals. This ultimately made a difference in how the Longhorns approached their comeback attempt in the second half.

Punting from the Texas one-yard line with 13:29 left in the second quarter, Ratliff’s punt failed to cross midfield and was low enough to allow Anthony Evans III to return it 13 yards to 19 yards for the Longhorns. The Bulldogs were able to gain just 13 yards in seven plays, but kicker Peyton Woodring was already set up for an easy field goal.

Two drives later, Ratliff’s punt from the Texas 21-yard line traveled just 36 yards, allowing Georgia to kick off right next to midfield. A seven-play, 25-yard drive ended with a 48-yard field goal.

In general, Texas special teams are not as explosive as they were last season; Sarkisian hopes that will change as the SEC moves forward.

“We’ve gained a lot of reputation on special teams for how aggressive we can be on explosive plays. We’ve had back-to-back weeks where we’ve had big comebacks,” Sarkisian said. “We had a big game with Silas against OU in the punt return game. We had a long game with (Matthew Golden) last week and that call was called back on a holding penalty. We just didn’t have a lot of opportunities. In Bert’s kick game, I think Will Stone He’s off to a great start, I think we’ve had eight total kickoffs in the seven games that people have played against us and again we’re returning kicks very well, we haven’t quite gotten the bounce plays, blocked punts, blocked field goals or those touchdown returns, but I think we’ve had a lot of kicks. “We are close and we continue to work on it and look forward to the second half of this season turning into a really effective phase for our team.”

Join the Community:

Subscriber Visit our YouTube Page HERE

toYou can follow us for our future publications. You can subscribe to our newsletter here. Moreover, Be sure to like us on Facebook @LonghornsCountryOnSI and follow us on Twitter: @LonghornsSI

Other Texas Longhorns News:

MORE: ‘Something to Prove’: Texas Football Releases Video of Longhorns vs. Vanderbilt Hype