The special teams unit wasn’t exactly a highlight of UCLA Bruins football in 2018. On one hand, kicker JJ Molson and punter Stefan Flintoft were extremely reliable. Flintoft was ranked 6th in the country, averaging 45.8 yards per punt while Molson was tied for 65th in the country, making about 74% of his field goals and going 35-35 on extra points.
That was the good news. The bad news was that UCLA ranked 10th in net punting and dead last in the Pac-12 in kickoff coverage. There were constant mistakes on punt coverage and false starts on field goal attempts that would take Molson to the edge of his range, resulting in a drop his 2017 field goal percentage when he made 81% of his attempts.