Sorting through the WVU kicking competition
Kicking is a critical part of the game and for West Virginia, the plan is to increase not only the competition but to go live on special teams this coming week.
The Mountaineers have three players competing for the open field goal kicking duties in redshirt senior Kade Hensley, sophomore Ethan Head, and redshirt junior RJ Kocan.
Hensley spent four years with Coastal Carolina and three as the starting field goal kicker, where he connected on 34-43 field goal attempts with a long of 49 in two separate seasons.
Meanwhile, Head spent only one season at Tulane, where he made 4-5 field goals and had 77 kickoffs for 4,873 yards and 50 touchbacks. Kocan has been with the program for three years and has attempted a point after touchdown but is in the mix.
“We got three guys battling pretty good there,” head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “It’s all got to be earned. I need to put some pressure on the field goal kickers at the end of practice.”
That pressure can help get an idea of how players handle those situations in a game-like environment. Rodriguez suggested one way was to attempt a field goal on a certain hash and then put the stakes that if they make it there are no sprints after practice, but if they miss, that will occur.
“That peer pressure is probably pretty good,” he said.
What aids both Hensley and Head is that both of them have kicked in actual games throughout their careers but still there isn’t really anything to simulate an actual game kick in practice.
The Mountaineers did kick field goals in the scrimmage Saturday but the plan is to go live this week with special teams in order to see what the team has in that department.
When it comes to kickoffs, Head is currently the leader in the clubhouse and it’s one of the reasons that the Mountaineers wanted to add him, considering his success at his former stop.
“He has a strong leg,” Rodriguez said.
The goal for West Virginia on kickoffs will be to try to kick it out of the end zone, but if there is wind in your face, you could look at alternate sky kicks or squibs.
“But generally if we can kick it out, we’re going to kick it out,” Rodriguez said.
Offer Alert
Fall camp is here and there’s no better time to sign up with us to get all your WVU intel! Sign up today – $1 for the first week, plus a complimentary year of access to The Athletic included. Join – http://gowvu.us/Join
__________________________________________
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
•Like us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
