Just For Kicks
November 12, 2008 04:44 PM | General
November 12, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Doctor’s orders may be just what the doctor ordered for West Virginia’s kickoff team. Senior linebacker Jim Lewis has been given the green light to return to the field and Mountaineer coaches are hoping his return will put a red light on the long returns West Virginia opponents have been able to enjoy during the last six games.
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| Jim Lewis has missed the last six games with a broken bone in his foot suffered during the Colorado game.
Brent Kepner photo |
Before Lewis went down with a broken bone in his left foot in the Colorado game, West Virginia’s kickoff return unit was allowing 24.2 yards per return. Since then, that figure has swollen to an average of 31.2 yards per return.
West Virginia’s kickoff team has allowed five returns of longer than 50 yards including last Saturday’s 100-yard touchdown by Mardy Gilyard to begin the Cincinnati game.
“We have to establish the kickoff team,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart on Tuesday.
Marshall - West Virginia’s opponent immediately after Lewis’ injury against Colorado - had a pair of long returns when kicker Pat McAfee had to make touchdown-saving tackles. Eight of the 10 longest plays West Virginia has given up this year have come on kickoff returns.
In eight games, the average starting position for West Virginia’s opponents is the 34-yard line. Consequently, that has placed an extraordinary burden on a defense that has spent most of the year trying to defend a short field.
Lewis, a 6-foot-1-inch, 235-pound senior linebacker, may be one of the key pieces on the kickoff team because it is his job to run down and blow up the blocking wedge. One of the reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers have historically ranked among the best teams in the NFL in kickoff coverage is because they always carry extra linebackers on their roster and use them in kickoff coverage.
“I know I didn’t make every tackle before but at the same time if I can be the first one down there and I can help blow things up and I can open things up for other guys then it’s a good opportunity,” Lewis said. “(The injury) has opened things up for me and made me work hard on my rehab to really get back.”
Stewart said he may consider doing more sky kicks and squib kicking to keep teams from getting long returns. He is also going to continue to alter the personnel to get the right mix of players on the field at the same time.
“I’m going to make a few more changes this week and probably more of what I’ve done in the past: sky, squib - that kind of thing. It goes back to making plays in space and I thought we had a pretty good shot to make a play in space (against Cincinnati) and we didn’t,” Stewart said.
Lewis admits it has been difficult watching his teammates struggle on kickoffs.
“You never want to see your teammates do badly and I know everyone on that kickoff team is going to be a future star here at West Virginia,” Lewis said. “It’s not like we have a bad kickoff team. We have talent – we’re just not putting it together. Maybe I can help us get back to where we were and it will work out well for everybody.”
Lewis is accelerating his recovery time because the time on his college football career is rapidly running out. The West Chester (Pa.) transfer came to WVU with one season of eligibility remaining and he does not have a redshirt available.
“I have to get back as soon as I can so that’s why I would have liked to get back for the last game,” Lewis said. “I’ve got three games and a bowl game so I just want to get back to help our team get back to where they were so our defense can have the ball where it needs to be on the 20 or 30 so that we can get turnovers.
“I’ve been in every meeting the week after I got hurt and I’ve been doing rehab on top of that,” Lewis added. “I’m excited to get back and see if I can be that X-factor.”
Of course getting back means dealing with a great deal of pain. Lewis understands that but he also believes the sacrifice is well worth it.
“The first time I sprinted was this past Sunday. I tried to sprint and the faster I run the less it hurts,” Lewis said. “I guess that’s less time on the bone. It works out well because all I have to do is run fast every time down. Obviously at the end of the game it’s pretty sore.”
For those interested, Lewis wears number 54 and will be the third guy lined up on the inside when West Virginia kicks off to Louisville on Nov. 22.
“Jimmy Lewis will be back and ready to go. He will be in the hit spot and we’ll see how he does,” Stewart said. “He will be cranked up and ready to go on the 22nd.”
