FSU football: Punter Alex Mastromanno has strong freshman year

FSU football wanted to have improved special teams in 2020.

Special teams were a question mark for FSU football going into the 2020 season. Head coach Mike Norvell stated special teams were of great importance to him, but the Noles were inexperienced at placekicker and punter, with freshmen in those positions.

The placekicking left a lot to be desired, with kickers only making 8 of 14 field goals on the year.

However, punting was improved over the last few years with freshman Alex Mastromanno winning the job in fall camp.

The 2020 season was his first time playing organized football, and he had the best freshman season as a punter in the last decade.

Mastromanno averaged 43.51 yards per punt (35 punts), with eight punts inside the 20-yard line and two inside the 10-yard line.

His average per punt is the highest since senior Casey Beatty in the 2015 season. Punting hasn’t been a strength since Beatty’s final season, and other punter’s lacked distance and hangtime.

Hangtime isn’t something Mastromanno’s struggled with as only opposing teams only returned about 37 percent of FSU’s punts on the season.

Also, FSU’s 4.79 yards per punt return average is the best since before the 2009 season.

Thoughts

This season didn’t count against Mastromann’s eligibility, so the Noles could have him for four more years unless he punts so well he can leave for the NFL.

We’ve seen some FSU football punters that didn’t have the freshman season he had to improve a bit each season. Shawn Powell was that way as a freshman in 2008, who averaged 41 yards per punt. He was averaging 47 yards per punt as a senior.

There’s no guarantee Mastromanno will see that type of increase in production, but it does give some sense of what’s possible. Not to mention he hasn’t been kicking footballs long at all.

I hope we don’t have to see him much in 2021, but it’s good to know there’s a reliable option going into the season.