Jed's Midseason Grades: Special Teams
October 16, 2011 09:24 AM | General
When you think of which positions might benefit most from a Dana Holgorsen offense, placekicker isn’t the first thing that springs to mind – but maybe it should.
A year ago at Oklahoma State Dan Bailey won the Lou Groza award as the beneficiary of Holgorsen’s high-scoring attack. Bailey connected on 27-31 field goals and scored an eye-popping 149 points.
WVU’s Tyler Bitancurt is the latest player to tee it up for Holgorsen’s kicker-friendly system – and so far so good. Bitancurt has quietly put together an exceptional first half. The redshirt junior has connected on 11-12 field tries and 30-30 PATs to rank 10th in the nation in scoring. With 63 points through six games, Bitancurt is on pace (13 games) to eclipse the West Virginia kick scoring record of 119 established by Charlie Bauman in 1988.
The WVU return games – punt and kickoff – have both been solid, ranking 19th and 29th respectively. A big part of this has been Tavon Austin, who is tops in the Big East in punt return average at a clip of 14.9 per.
Austin is a consistent home run threat and provides the Mountaineers with the kind of bona fide, field-tilting capability in the return game the team hasn’t seen since Adam “Pacman” Jones. Austin’s production in the return game has played a major role in his 193.5 yards per game all-purpose average – a figure that has him on pace to surpass 2,500 yards and shatter Steve Slaton’s school record of 2,104 set in 2006.
There’s no questioning Tavon’s talents with the football in his hands – this kid could make guys miss in a phone booth. The area he needs to improve most on as a return man is when the ball is not in his hands. In short, Austin needs to continue working toward finding ways to cover the space necessary to catch punts on the fly and prevent the ball from rolling. Sometimes this can be the most challenging part of a punt returner’s game, particularly when facing a punter who is skilled in the art of directional kicking. Such was the case against LSU when Tigers’ punter Brad Wing took advantage of favorable rolls to pin West Virginia inside the 20-yard line seven times, including five times inside the 10. West Virginia has also countered this threat on occasion (vs. Bowling Green, for example) with a return scheme that features two deep safeties, but such a look does slightly impact your ability to set the blocks necessary for a big return.
Unlike the return units, the punt and kick coverage units have been a major liability. The Mountaineers rank No. 99 nationally in kickoff coverage and come in at a bottom-feeding 117th in punt coverage. Holgorsen has tinkered with the lineup in both cases (including the insertion of a handful of defensive starters) and has seen some favorable results. Expect to see the changes continue throughout the season if the coverage units don’t provide the dependable production Holgorsen is looking for.
Corey Smith handled the punting chores coming into the year and got off to a solid start until an ongoing series of puzzling shanks cost him the job. Walk-on Mike Molinari replaced Smith for the Connecticut game and delivered with a 41.4 yard average on four punts, including three kicks that pinned the Huskies inside the 20. If last week was any indication of what’s to come from Molinari, WVU might have stumbled onto a nice weapon.
SPECIAL TEAMS GRADE: C+
(Grades from previous articles: Offense A- and Defense B-)
All told, the Mountaineers are right where they need to be during the off week. West Virginia’s 5-1 record at the midway point is the product of solid play in all phases, making it no surprise that WVU is one of only three teams (Wisconsin and Stanford) in college football ranked in the top 20 in both total offense and total defense.
There’s an old saying in football that every team out there is just a few “ifs” away from being pretty good. This West Virginia team is already pretty good, so the Mountaineers might in fact be just a few “ifs” away from being special. With four of its final six games on the road – including the next two – now is the time for West Virginia to focus on three very pivotal “ifs” down the stretch. If the Mountaineers can continue to improve at the point of attack and establish a more consistent ground game, if they generate more pressure and turnovers on the defensive side, and if keep the needle pointing up with the special teams coverage units, the sky might be the limit for this team.
See you at the Fifty.
A year ago at Oklahoma State Dan Bailey won the Lou Groza award as the beneficiary of Holgorsen’s high-scoring attack. Bailey connected on 27-31 field goals and scored an eye-popping 149 points.
WVU’s Tyler Bitancurt is the latest player to tee it up for Holgorsen’s kicker-friendly system – and so far so good. Bitancurt has quietly put together an exceptional first half. The redshirt junior has connected on 11-12 field tries and 30-30 PATs to rank 10th in the nation in scoring. With 63 points through six games, Bitancurt is on pace (13 games) to eclipse the West Virginia kick scoring record of 119 established by Charlie Bauman in 1988.
The WVU return games – punt and kickoff – have both been solid, ranking 19th and 29th respectively. A big part of this has been Tavon Austin, who is tops in the Big East in punt return average at a clip of 14.9 per.
Austin is a consistent home run threat and provides the Mountaineers with the kind of bona fide, field-tilting capability in the return game the team hasn’t seen since Adam “Pacman” Jones. Austin’s production in the return game has played a major role in his 193.5 yards per game all-purpose average – a figure that has him on pace to surpass 2,500 yards and shatter Steve Slaton’s school record of 2,104 set in 2006.
There’s no questioning Tavon’s talents with the football in his hands – this kid could make guys miss in a phone booth. The area he needs to improve most on as a return man is when the ball is not in his hands. In short, Austin needs to continue working toward finding ways to cover the space necessary to catch punts on the fly and prevent the ball from rolling. Sometimes this can be the most challenging part of a punt returner’s game, particularly when facing a punter who is skilled in the art of directional kicking. Such was the case against LSU when Tigers’ punter Brad Wing took advantage of favorable rolls to pin West Virginia inside the 20-yard line seven times, including five times inside the 10. West Virginia has also countered this threat on occasion (vs. Bowling Green, for example) with a return scheme that features two deep safeties, but such a look does slightly impact your ability to set the blocks necessary for a big return.
Unlike the return units, the punt and kick coverage units have been a major liability. The Mountaineers rank No. 99 nationally in kickoff coverage and come in at a bottom-feeding 117th in punt coverage. Holgorsen has tinkered with the lineup in both cases (including the insertion of a handful of defensive starters) and has seen some favorable results. Expect to see the changes continue throughout the season if the coverage units don’t provide the dependable production Holgorsen is looking for.
Corey Smith handled the punting chores coming into the year and got off to a solid start until an ongoing series of puzzling shanks cost him the job. Walk-on Mike Molinari replaced Smith for the Connecticut game and delivered with a 41.4 yard average on four punts, including three kicks that pinned the Huskies inside the 20. If last week was any indication of what’s to come from Molinari, WVU might have stumbled onto a nice weapon.
SPECIAL TEAMS GRADE: C+
(Grades from previous articles: Offense A- and Defense B-)
All told, the Mountaineers are right where they need to be during the off week. West Virginia’s 5-1 record at the midway point is the product of solid play in all phases, making it no surprise that WVU is one of only three teams (Wisconsin and Stanford) in college football ranked in the top 20 in both total offense and total defense.
There’s an old saying in football that every team out there is just a few “ifs” away from being pretty good. This West Virginia team is already pretty good, so the Mountaineers might in fact be just a few “ifs” away from being special. With four of its final six games on the road – including the next two – now is the time for West Virginia to focus on three very pivotal “ifs” down the stretch. If the Mountaineers can continue to improve at the point of attack and establish a more consistent ground game, if they generate more pressure and turnovers on the defensive side, and if keep the needle pointing up with the special teams coverage units, the sky might be the limit for this team.
See you at the Fifty.
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