COLLEGE PARK, Md. — In the middle of his game-winning kick, Josh Lambert thought “Oh no.”
He mistimed the snap and prematurely started his approach but buried the 47-yarder anyway, giving West Virginia a 40-37 victory on the final play at Maryland.
The sophomore missed a kick for the third consecutive week, thanks to the Terps blocking a 43-yarder earlier in the fourth quarter. He received a second chance in the decisive moment after West Virginia (2-1) consumed the final 2:35 by moving from its 5-yard line to the Maryland 30.
Following a timeout by Terps coach Randy Edsall, Lambert overcome his own poor timing to end it.
“I was anticipating the snap and took a step and realized ‘Oh no,'” Lambert said. “But I was able to gather myself very fast and put it through.”
Even after the kick left his foot, Lambert felt he pushed it right. It split the uprights, however, and all Lambert had to do was hug the waves of teammates rushing toward him.
The buildup to the kick wasn’t filled with encouragement from coaches. Dana Holgorsen is so hands-off with kickers that he joked afterward, “I haven’t talked to Josh Lambert since he got to campus.”
And the only instruction from special-teams coach Joe DeForest? “I just told him to breathe