Special teams key for WVU, Miami in Russell Athletic Bowl
This year’s Russell Athletic Bowl between West Virginia and Miami may not come down to an offensive or defensive battle but rather a special teams one.
Each time has shown its strengths and weaknesses on special teams throughout this season but how these teams match up in some of these specialties could make for an interesting game in Orlando and a more significant impact than people may think.
Special teams has been a key and consistent strength for Miami this season. The Hurricanes rank in the nation’s top-15 in net punting and average punt return yards.
Miami has also managed to block five field goals and three punts this season which both rank in the nation’s top-five.
“The one thing that stands out about them more than anything is they block a ton of kicks,” West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen said. “They come after everything whether it’s PAT field goal, whether it’s punt they come after it, and they get there quick, so we got to pay attention to the blocking of kicks aspect of things.”
Though West Virginia has not allowed a blocked kick or punt all season, the Mountaineers have shown inconsistency on special teams, most notably in the kicking game.
Redshirt junior kicker Mike Molina has stepped up as West Virginia’s full-time kicker since Josh Lambert left the team following the Kansas State game. Molina is perfect on extra points this season has shown he is capable of drilling long range kicks, including a career long 50-yarder against Baylor.
Molina though has struggled to kick consistently, going just 15/22 overall this season and is ⅖ from 40 plus yards.
With Miami’s tenacious field goal defense, Molina and the field goal unit will be put to the test and will easily face its toughest challenge of the year.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the Hurricanes themselves may be vulnerable to blocked kicks. The Hurricanes have had four kicks blocked this season which ties for the fourth most in the country.
Though West Virginia has only blocked one kick all season, you can bet that the field goal defensive unit will be dialed in as they saw what Florida State did to Miami earlier in the season.
The Seminoles managed to block a game-tying extra point late in the game that cost the Hurricanes the game. Since then, Miami has only had one other extra point blocked that came in a lopsided loss to Virginia Tech.
When it comes to the punting game, the Mountaineers will have their hands full with Miami punt returner Braxton Berrios. Berrios’s electrifying speed has helped him produce 204 punt return yards and an average of 12.8 yards per return which ranks sixth in the nation along with one touchdown.
“He’s dangerous,” Holgorsen said. “He takes chances, he makes things happen. So we have our work cut out for us in this game.”
The Mountaineers have only allowed 97 punt return yards this season and 6.47 yards per return. West Virginia’s punt coverage and redshirt sophomore punter Billy Kinney will play a pivotal role in containing Berrios and will likely kick away from him.
Perhaps the most overlooked matchup between these two teams when it comes to specialties is kickoffs. Both West Virginia and Miami allow over 20 yards per kick return and have each allowed a kick return touchdown this season.
However, both of these teams haven’t had a whole of success on kick return which should make for an interesting battle when it comes to starting field position even though both teams have shown their capability to produce long scoring drives and big plays.
With Miami already falling victim to a special teams blunder earlier this season to Florida State, it goes to show that special teams can often become the x-factor in tight games that may be overlooked by fans at first glance and could very be the phase of the game that decides the victor in this year’s Russell Athletic Bowl.