Many people who follow football will fawn over their favorite team's outstanding offensive or defensive efforts, but one unit that often escapes attention, even when they over-perform, is the special teams group. In fact, special teams players only seem to draw attention when they mess up.
But the fact of the matter is that a good special teams unit can make or break a team in close games, and can be the difference between an average team and a good team. So with the Mountaineers set to get fall camp underway in the coming days, let's take a look at what to expect from their special teams units this year.
West Virginia's kickers and punters
6-foot-6 Irish senior Jack Cassidy joins the Mountaineers from Western Kentucky to handle kickoff duties, which was his specialty last year. But he also may earn his way into a placekicker role. His competition there will be Peter Notaro, who comes from Alabama after redshirt season, and returning West Virginia native Nate Flowers. Notaro missed spring ball with an injury, and Flowers split duties with Cassidy.
At punter, the sole listed player is Bryan Hansen, who joins the Mountaineers after a successful stint at Colorado State. But if things don't go well, Cassidy has experience at this position as well, and could be a sort of utlility man when it comes to booting the ball.
West Virginia's returners
Preston Fox handled these duties solely for the Mountaineers over the past few years except during games he missed due to injuries, and he is out of eligibility. No other player is returning to the team that saw significant return action.
Top freshman prospect Matt Sieg may be worth a look here, just to get him on the field and using his athleticism. Greg Wilfred is another freshman who has the ability to make noise here. Perhaps one of the speedy JUCO receiver additions fills this role, or slot standout DJ Epps could pull double-duty. There are questions here, but also plenty of options.
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