More Looks Ahead At The Offseason: Special Teams Primer
Competition at placekicker, the prospect of finding a new snapper and if a state native can hold off an incoming Texan and a prospect from the Land Down Under are the post-spring special teams questions for West Virginia as it preps to hit the summer strength and conditioning program in the coming months.
Here's the final look of our three-part series that highlights the questions on offense, defense and now the specialists as the Mountaineers, sans spring game, hit the offseason with multiple issues to solve.
Placekicker
West Virginia lost Mike Molina to a hip flexor injury for the final six games of last season. The senior hit 5-of-8 field goals and all 40 PATs to that point, scoring 55 points and providing a solid option inside 45 yards. But the flexor injury never resolved, which thrust Romney, W.Va. native Evan Staley into handle both kickoffs and the placekicking duties down the stretch.
Staley responded well, connecting on 6-of-7 field goals and all 16 point-afters . He was a key in the 2016 win over Iowa State, making two field goals (28 and 36 yards, the latter his longest of the year) and two PATs in scoring eight points to provide among the differences in the game. The 2015 Fulton Award winner as the best special teams prep player in the state, Staley is considered a proven commodity at this point, thought the potential of a sophomore slump - like that suffered by Josh Lambert - always looms.
That Staley, now a redshirt sophomore, also handled kickoffs is a slight concern for the staff, though the shouldn't be burdened with all three duties with the return of redshirt senior Billy Kinney at punter. Still, the WVU staff added Western Kentucky transfer Skyler Simcox, who announced his intention to transfer in September and thus was eligible to compete for a starting job immediately. Simcox hit 16-of-22 tries at WKU in 2016 and made all but one of his 71 PATs.
The Abington, Va., native started his collegiate career at Division III Emory & Henry, and after going 9-for-11 there, had an opportunity to take a DI scholarship at Western Kentucky. His upward mobility continued from there to Morgantown, and Simcox now has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
This competition could rage well into fall camp, the incumbent against the solid newcomer with a solid leg. While Staley has yet to hit kicks of 40-plus yards, Simcox has made tries of 50 and 52 yards, marking him as just the third kicker in WKU history to make two or more 50-plus yard kicks in the same season. Simcox was 10-for-11 on kicks inside 40 yards, so this isn't likely to come down to a short range (Staley) vs long range (Simcox) battle. Keep an eye on this to see who can seize the edge in by the latter portions of August.
Kickoff
As Yogi Berra famously quipped, it's déjà vu all over again. The same pair -Staley and Simcox - will battle for the duties here as well. Staley averaged 58.9 yards on 77 kickoffs last season, with 27 touchbacks and three kicked out of bounds. West Virginia held foes to an average of 19.64 yards on 27 returns last season, good for 43rd nationally.
It figures that Staley's leg strength could well increase after entering his third year in the program, so that number might increase in terms of the 58.9-yard average. Who handles this might be determined by who wins the placekicking battle if the staff would like to split the duties. Where Simcox might have an edge in distance on field goals, Staley may have the inside job here with his ability to place the ball in relation to the coverage schemes.
Punter
This job is Billy Kinney's to lose, though he will be pushed by Angus Davies. The incoming Australian signed with WVU without a campus visit after the Mountaineers extended an offer in November of last year. The Torquay native - the city is approximately an hour south of Melbourne on the nation's east coast - trained at ProKick and is the among the latest in what's become a string of specialists coming to the United States to play collegiately.
The kicking motion in soccer and, to a greater extent, Aussie Rules football mimics the motions in American football, and as such those players are partially honed already. Davies said he became a kicking "robot" for a few months while getting a feel for punting, then tried to get better in terms of technique and release time. His ability to rugby punt will also help, though Kinney is established as the starter coming out of spring.
Kinney, out of University High in Morgantown, averaged 40.9 yards on 70 punts last season. He had nine punts of 50 or more yards, and pinned 22 inside the 20 with 29 fair catches. Those numbers are decent, but the location was left wanting at times, and one would like to push that average up a touch as WVU's net punting of 36.3 yards ranked 104th nationally. Blame a combination of hang time, coverage, location and more, but it's clear that unit has major work to do as it ranked last in the Big 12.
Luke Hogan, a redshirt sophomore out of Keller, Texas, will also compete for the position. The University of Houston transfer has gained 20 pounds on his 6-foot-1 frame since coming to Morgantown last summer, and appears ready to at least begin to challenge for time after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
One aspect to watch as the season progresses is how Davies will handle kicking in the colder weather as the season turns to October and November. While Torquay is in the very southern portion of Australia (remember, southern cities are colder in the southern hemisphere), it still averages lows of just 42 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter in July and August, and has just eight days of rain during those months.
Neat fact: Torquay is home to the Australian National Surfing Museum, and was the setting of the final scene of the 1991 hit film Point Break. Hang time and Hang 10 in the same place.
Long Snapper and Holder
These are arguably the most underappreciated positions on the team. Noticed only when playing poorly, the timing, delivery and chemistry required between the two is key to the basics of special teams execution. While Billy Kinney returns at holder, and seems to have that positon on lockdown ahead of Luke Hogan, West Virginia lost fifth-year senior Nick Meadows at the front end of thr operation.
Meadows was a two-year starter who handled every one of his snaps perfectly in 2016 and '17. Honored as the team's top walk-on prior to the start of last season, the Williamstown, W.Va. product handled all snaps for field goals, punt and extra points. Named WVU's special teams champion against Liberty in 2015 and BYU in '16, Meadows was an overlooked yet ultra dependable part of the team over the last few years.
Those significant shoes figure to be filled by either Rex Sunahara or walk-on Kyle Poland. Sunahara, the son of West Virginia volleyball coach Reed, is a vastly different build than the 5-11, 225-pound Meadows. At 6-foot-6 and 238 pounds, Sunahara isn't built like your typical snapper. After playing at Rhode Island in 2015 and transferring in 2016, Sunahara got a snap late last year (proud Dad was busy coaching but saw the replay) but has to prove himself to remain ahead of Poland.
At 6-foot-2, 232 pounds, Poland is a redshirt sophomore out of Morgantown High. Poland redshirted in 2016 and didn't play last year after starting 11 games at the prep level as a center and long snapper for the Mohigans in 2015. Poland has a more muscular build, but Sunahara's snaps have been dependable through spring. This is a position that won't generate noise unless there's a concern, so let's hope it remains quiet.
Kickoff And Punt Return
These slots aren't what one might call wide open. Indeed, Marcus Simms handled 17 of the 22 punt returns from a season ago, and averaged a decent 5.8 yards per bring back with a long of 23. Gary Jennings is also available as a dependable punt returner with solid hands (Oklahoma muff withstanding), but one who has had difficulty breaking long returns because of smothering coverage by foes.
West Virginia, however, ranked just 110th in punt returns last season at a paltry 4.8 yards per. That average shockingly went up to 5.9 in Big 12 play, which put the Mountaineers a surprising sixth in the conference. Still, there's no question this is an extreme weak point for the team, and has been for a few years. Dana Holgorsen has commented about how much better it was than when, you know, the team couldn't even field the ball, but that's like saying one black eye is better than two.
Simms is the front-runner to handle the punt return duties, while slot wideout Tevin Bush could also get a chance along with Jennings. Bush returned three punts last year for a total of two yards, but his wiggle and ability to get upfield are intriguing at the slot. The three-man mix gives the Mountaineers a dose of everything: Simms has the best burst and has shown he can get vertical and at least add a touch to changing the field position. Jennings' is a possession-type returner, while Bush is the wild card that might well get chances early to see what he can show.
Simms should also be a focus on kickoff, along with Jennings and perhaps the likes of Bush, Martell Pettaway and perhaps Dravon Askew-Henry. Simms hit for a 26.3-yard average last year on 31 kick returns with a long of 80. Pettaway and Bush had four and three returns, respectively, while the team as a whole averaged 24.3 yards on 40 returns. That's a solid 16th-best in the country, and a number West Virginia would like to duplicate.
The blocking and coverage on kickoffs was solid to quite good a season ago, to the point where the Mountaineers actually outgained foes on kickoffs by nearly four yards. WVU's average fell to 22.5 yards per return in Big 12 play, but that was still good for a top half finish in the league at fifth. If the team could add a second major threat to Simms in Bush or another like-player, the Mountaineers could vault themselves into a top 15 return team.
