Article in the West Virginia Newspaper about my Grandson. He will be a Sophomore in eligibility this Fall.


Print
Sunday, April 13, 2014
No doubts about WVU kicking jobs
By Dave Hickman, Staff writer

MORGANTOWN — By the end of West Virginia’s spring football drills, there were probably more questions than answers.

On offense, absolutely nothing was done to clear up the competition at quarterback, primarily because pretty much half the contenders — injured Clint Trickett and yet-to-arrive freshman William Crest — weren’t even involved. There are still more running backs and receivers than positions they can fill, which is certainly not a bad thing, but who ends up playing is still a mystery.

On defense, things are pretty much the same — a lot of players still in contention for playing time, especially behind the line. There is a logjam at linebacker, and on the back end, aside from cornerback Daryl Worley and safety Karl Joseph, pretty much no one has a lock on positions. Again, neither of those problems is a bad one to have, but clarity in regard to personnel just isn’t there.

But then there are the specialists. Mark those down in ink and forget about them. Come the end of August and the beginning of the season, the possibilities are remote that anyone other than Josh Lambert and Nick O’Toole will be placekicking and punting, respectively.

“Our kicking game,’’ said coach Dana Holgorsen, “has been great.’’

In Saturday’s spring-ending God-Blue scrimmage, O’Toole and Mike Molinari split the six punts and each averaged around 45-47 yards. O’Toole handled the job all last season and figures to do so again in the fall while Molinari concentrates on kickoffs and holding for placements.

Long-snapper John DePalma is also back and is doing exactly the type of anonymous job that the best long-snappers do — failing to call attention to himself.

“You forget he’s even here,’’ Holgorsen said. “He never does anything but snap the ball exactly where you want it to be.’’

Perhaps the most high-profile of the positions, however, is Lambert’s. That’s the only position of the three where kicks result directly in points. And over the course of the spring, Lambert has been, as Holgorsen said, “Mr. Consistency.’’

He’s also become Mr. Range. The third of his three field goals Saturday (in as many attempts) was from 53 yards and had plenty of room to spare when it went over the crossbar.

“During pregame today I hit a 60-yarder,’’ Lambert said. “From that point [and longer] it’s hit or miss, but given the right conditions, I can hit 60.’’

One of the things that Lambert attributes to his improvement and that of the other specialists, as well, is something not generally associated with football training.

They’ve all gotten into yoga.

“Mike Joseph recommended yoga one day,’’ Lambert said of the program’s director of strength and conditioning. “They have a TV in the weight room that they put it on and we all just go to town.

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger [working with more traditional methods] and the yoga helped a lot. It’s made me more flexible.’’

A year ago, as a redshirt freshman, Lambert made his WVU debut by kicking 17 field goals in 23 attempts. Four of his six misses were kicks of 50 or more yards. He was 16 of 18 inside that distance and just 1 of 5 outside, making a 50-yarder at Kansas State and missing from 50, 51, 53 and 55 yards (as well as 34 and 42).

Four of his six misses came in the first five games of the season. He went 11 of 13 in the final seven games and at one point had a streak of 10 straight makes over six games.

In other words, he got better as the year went on and he gained some confidence, and now he has developed even more.

“I guess nerve-wise, I don’t get nervous anymore,’’ Lambert said.

As for the yoga, well, say what you will. Sure, it’s not a traditional football training tool, but if it works, why not?

“At first the other players asked what we were doing I guess,’’ Lambert said. “But they can’t say anything now as long as we perform well.’’

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickman1@aol.com or follow him at Twitter.com/dphickman1.
- See more at: http://wvgazette.com/article/2...sthash.sLm1l6pj.dpuf

Pretty cool!

Grandkids always get a pass when it comes to bragging rights!

It's wonderful when a grand child shows excellence in breeding and blood line.

Jim

Josh has always been my hunting, fishing, and BR shooting buddy. He will have 2 weeks just after the first of may and he wants to go hog hunting. We will be doing that.

quote:

Originally posted by arkypete:
It's wonderful when a grand child shows excellence in breeding and blood line.

Jim

And it is never bragging about your own kids.

It is just stating FACTS

just great

My Dad told me that if he new how great having Grandkids was.....he'd a had them first....


.

J-Tex,
Your Dad is a very smart man.

Yes Sir! Iknow. He tells me that every time I talk to him!

You bet,I can spoil them rotten,then give em back. My youngest grandson came in my gunroom the other day + saw a Martini (BSA) Cadet in .22LR. I had drilled + tapped + installed a Leupold VX-3. Well he saw that,kinda rolled his eyes + said ,"That's mine,right?" I told him that he knew you did'nt get your 1st .22 until you were 10. He says "Well,I'm ALMOST 10." You can imagine the conversation from there.

As an addendum; I have personally raised 3 fine young men with great results. Rules need to apply however.That is what makes them fine young men.In the firearm aquisision state for young men is this. One must be 10 before 1st .22 single shot. I can not promote this safety factor more highly! A kid does not need a semi auto. With a single shot it is either loaded or it's not.(End of personal lecture;sorry but the potential loss of a child is a terrible thing.) Their 1st center fire weapon was on their 18th b.day. Their 1st. handgun was on their 21st. Don't get me wrong,they had been using them for the duration + knew how. It was only at those dates that they were awarded them as a right of passage.