UND football leads the FCS in net punting, kick return yards

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Sep. 15—GRAND FORKS — For the second week in a row, UND kick returner Charles Langama was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday.

Langama's 99-yard kickoff return and 36.6 yards per return average during UND's win over Portland State secured the honor.

UND punter Luke Silvernale had a strong argument for runner-up honors, too. Silvernale drilled a 55-yard punt down to the Portland State 2-yard line, which set up a UND safety to give the Hawks a 26-8 halftime lead.

"We spend a lot of time on (special) teams," UND head coach Eric Schmidt said. "We think it's really, really important for us to be able to be sound … to be able to make some game-changing plays on special teams, and that's been something I've really seen here early on in the season."

UND leads the country in net punting. The Fighting Hawks have 249 yards of punting and have surrendered just 5 punt return yards.

UND punter Luke Silvernale is averaging 49.8 yards per punt, which would lead the FCS if he had enough punts to qualify for the individual stats. Silvernale has had a limited number of chances to punt with the Hawks averaging 50.3 points per game through the first three weeks of the season.

"Any time you're exchanging that type of field position, you're doing things really, really well," Schmidt said.

UND punt returner Cameron Weir, a first-year transfer from Washington State, had a 23-yard punt return in the second half against the Vikings, as well.

Schmidt said UND's charting of explosive plays had the Hawks for 15 to Portland State's two.

Langama, a sophomore running back from Maple Grove, produced 284 all-purpose yards against Portland State. He now has back-to-back games with 200-plus all-purpose yards. He ranks second among FCS players with 208.0 all-purpose yards per game.

UND has 385 kickoff return yards — more than 100 more yards than anyone in the FCS. Langama is fourth in the FCS in kick return average at 34.7 yards on 10 returns. The three players ahead of Langama have five or fewer kick return opportunities.

It's not all good news for the UND special teams, though. The Hawks have a kicking competition with duties split between Silvernale and Kenten Laughman. Against PSU, UND hopes Laughman can build confidence after connecting on a 38-yard field goal. The Hawks are now 1-for-2 on field goals this year.

The Hawks have also missed two extra points this year, although UND's kickers have produced 11 touchbacks (Laughman has nine of those) while opposing kickers have had just one touchback against UND.

The 3-0 Hawks, ranked No. 6 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, face Nebraska at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb. The game will be aired on the Big Ten Network.

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