But are you concerned about Tyler Bitancurt?

The spring is not designed for kickers and punters, or really any aspect of special teams, but it hasn’t been pretty for WVU and the field-goal/PAT block units have been making a meal out of those drills.

First, Tyler Bitancurt missed a 27-yard attempt wide right. Then Qudral Forte got his hands on a Corey Smith 28-yard try, but really, any number of defenders could have taken credit for the block with how many of them were in position to make it. On the last play of goal line, Bitancurt was called back on the field for a 22-yard attempt and he missed that one, too.

One reporter noted after practice that in the past eight attempts the media has been present for, the kicker have connected on just one of eight. The one kick made all day Friday was a 49-yarder by Smith on the final play of the scrimmage.

I’m not sure where to gauge my interest in this story. It’s spring and we’re a long, long way away from camp, let alone the opener. Kickers can get right in a hurry because it’s all mechanics. Watch some tape, observe the operation and modify it, if need be. What Tyler Bitancurt does today is no different than what he can do a week from today, a month from then and in camp. It’s formulaic and not dependent on what’s happening on the other side of the ball, or, in truth, even his side of the ball.

This leads me to one of my favorite Holgorsen quotes/quips thus far:

“That’s something that’s an easy fix. I’m not going to say it’s an easy fix for the guy that has to make sure it goes through the uprights. Some of the block issues have already been addressed and we’ll make sure they get fixed, but that’s not the problem. That’s the easy part. The hard part is getting the guy to kick it through the uprights, which I haven’t really paid much attention to. Half the time it hasn’t gotten past the line of scrimmage. But we’ll keep working on it.”

Two things we have to note, too. First, WVU’s line just hasn’t held its own on some of these drills. Whether it’s the weather and wet footing of just bad protection, Bitancurt and Corey Smith breath and kick easier knowing the wall will hold.

Second, we’re also overlooking the possible positive out of this: Maybe the Mountaineeers are really good at blocking kicks. There are some true athletes out there with length and reach and a knack for slipping through or jumping over to get to the ball.

For the record, Bill Stewart is not worried and a kicker competition, if there is to be one, will wait until the summer.

“Well, I think those guys stood for an hour and 45 minutes,” he said. “It’s not like Tyler Bitancurt to miss, particularly in close like he did. That’s a bad day, but he’ll be OK.”

True. Bitancurt was 2-for-2 and 4-for-5 his first two seasons from between 20 and 30 yards. Still, short kicks don’t have the low trajectory that’s easier for a Terence Garvin or Quadral Forte to block and Bitancurt did have four field-goal attempts blocked last season. Though he was not blocked Friday in the scrimmage, he was blocked in practice Wednesday, had a block and a miss in the first scrimmage and has had blips in other drills we’ve been allowed to see.

Here I am saying it’s not too hard for a kicker to get right and this has been a problem for a season and now a spring. He was great as a freshman (13-for-15), but 10-for-17 last season and I wondered throughout if he was all right after offseason surgery. He says he is now and you have to believe him, but do you have to wonder?