Wanted:  Reliable kicker

Virginia coach Al Groh looks around and pines for the days that Connor Hughes’ spikes graced his practice field.

Hughes was the closest thing to automatic that Groh has had in terms of a place-kicker during his previous eight seasons at Virginia. Any coach will tell you, that perhaps behind the quarterback position, the kicker is the most important player on the squad because he can easily win a game — or, just as easily, lose one.

Hughes made more kicks and scored more points than any kicker in Wahoo history from 2002 to 2005 and Groh is hoping that the candidates currently in training camp can step up their games to give the Cavaliers someone they can count on this fall.

Sophomores Robert Randolph and Chris Hinkebein are battling it out with true freshman walk-on Drew Jarrett in camp, all hoping to be consistent enough to win the job for UVa’s opener against William & Mary on Sept. 5.

Ups and downs

So far, the kickers have impressed the coaching staff in one area, but not so much in another.

“The kickoffs, through the first three days, have been much to our liking,” Groh said. “Hang time, and the landing spot for this kickoff coverage is what we want.”

That’s where the compliments stopped.

“Placement work is going to be a full-camp project to find out where we are and who we’re going to go with,” the coach reported.

Groh believes that with the correct kickoff man and new kickoff coverages introduced by special teams coordinator Ron Prince, this certain phase of football can help change the scoreboard in UVa’s favor, along with kickoff returns, punts and punt returns. Certainly one team not far down the road has made a living off of special teams play for more than a decade.

Game-changing plays

Should some of that success rub off on the rival Cavaliers, Groh will be the first in line to salute the change.

“It’s not how far the [placekickers] kick ’em ... it’s from what spot,” Groh said. “We need to establish where they’re going to be consistently accurate from, so we can construct the game toward that spot.”

Is this guy reliable from 40 to 45 yards out, or does the ball need to be moved inside the 40? Does he have the range to consistently make kicks between 35 and 40 yards?

Those are the questions that can be somewhat answered in training camp to eliminate all the guessing on game days. No reason to burn up the headsets during a drive wondering if a kicker can be counted on for a 40-yarder if he has been inconsistent from that range all spring and all of August.

Might as well as punt it or go for it and leave the kicker on the sidelines.

Randolph came on and won the job late last season, making 3 of 4 field goal attempts, all from between 30 and 37 yards. They didn’t risk beyond 40 he hadn’t proven that he could consistently make those.

Heinkbein has a strong leg, but he’s kind of like some guys at the tee box at your local golf course. Sometimes he’ll boom one and draw oohs and ahhs from his foursome. Sometimes they’ll be hunting for his ball deep into the woods.

Jarrett, who caught the eye of former UVa assistant Bob Pruett, has been thrown into the mix to see if he can handle the pressure of a rookie. Time will tell.

Until then, Groh and Prince and the rest will keep their fingers crossed because a good, reliable kicker can be the difference between a good team or a bad one, or a good team and a great one.