MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Each of the three players that made a field goal for West Virginia last season is back with the Mountaineers in 2021.
Perhaps that explains why less than three weeks from the season opener at Maryland, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is unsure who his team’s top placekicker is.
“It’s very much a competition,” Brown said. “It really is. It’s kind of ebbs and flows.”
Redshirt seniors Evan Staley and Tyler Sumpter and redshirt junior Casey Legg combined to make 14-of-20 field goals last season, with Staley’s 37 points and six field goals leading the trio.
Those numbers would have been higher were it not for Staley suffering a season-ending injury on kickoff coverage in the team’s sixth game against Kansas State.
That opened up an opportunity for both Legg and Sumpter, the team’s punter.
Legg, who split kickoff duties with Staley last season, made 5-of-7 field goals and all nine point-after kicks. Sumpter worked around punting 37 times to score 10 points on three field goals and a PAT.
While the battle remains unsettled, Brown singled out Legg for his performance in preseason camp Tuesday.
“Field goal wise, we made all our kicks today. Somebody that I haven’t talked about that’s had a really solid camp is Casey Legg,” Brown said. “He’s done really well. Proud to kind of recognize him, because he’s done a nice job. “
Staley, a sixth-year senior, opted to use the extra year of eligibility provided by the NCAA due to the pandemic. He has made 39 field goals in 40 career contests at WVU, but just recently returned to action after being out nine months.
“Casey has probably been then most consistent and really proud of Evan for being able to come back and string some days together with his knee,” Brown said. “Sumpter has a chance in that battle as well.”
While it’s not common for a team’s top kicker to also be its punter, Sumpter handled both roles before arriving in Morgantown. After redshirting for Brown at Troy in 2016, Sumpter was the Trojans’ punter throughout 2017 and served as kicker for the last seven games.
In 2018, Sumpter earned All-Sun Belt second-team honors as a kicker and was a third-team selection as a punter. Sumpter was again the league’s third-team punter in 2019 — the same season he scored 88 points by making 14-of-18 field goals and all 46 PATs.
“We had him do both two years at Troy when he was with us there and then he did it at the end of the season last year,” Brown recalled. “I always kind of default to the kicker. They’re different motions. It really doesn’t hurt his ability as a punter to do the field goals. He likes doing both. Is it perfect? No, it’s probably not perfect. But if he wins both jobs, he wins both jobs, and we’ll do it.”
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Junior safety Malachi Ruffin discovered he was going on scholarship Monday after being a walk-on since joining the program in 2018.
Ruffin saw action on special teams last season and made four tackles in 10 games.
He got word of the scholarship during a team meeting through a Zoom call with his family.
“He’s just worked. He has really good speed,” Brown said. “He played for us last year on a couple different special teams and made a difference. He made a great play against Texas.”
Ruffin’s ascension continued throughout spring football, where he was recognized for his performance on special teams.
“He kept growing and won our individual special teams award. He had the most points of all our special teams competitions,” Brown said. “He competed and he’s earned it. He has over a 3.0 GPA. It was really neat we got his mom and dad involved on Zoom. They were the ones that were able to break the news to him. He’s well liked by all facets of the team so that was a fun deal.”
Brown added Ruffin won’t be the only player to earn a scholarship prior to the season opener, though he and his staff are waiting to see what walk-ons step up as preseason camp moves forward.
“We’re waiting for a couple jobs to be earned before we do a couple of them,” Brown said. “We have a really good walk-on program. That’s something that we didn’t create. It’s something that’s been here and it’s part of the tradition of West Virginia.”
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Four-star freshman running back Jaylen Anderson has yet to arrive in Morgantown and his status at WVU remains in question with school starting Wednesday.
Back on August 6 — the opening day of preseason camp — Brown said he was hopeful Anderson would be cleared to play in 2021, though he was awaiting word from the NCAA Clearinghouse.
When asked Tuesday if he could provide an update on Anderson’s status, Brown said he could not.
Running back Tony Mathis missed Tuesday’s practice with what Brown deemed a “minor injury.” The coach went on to say he would have an update after Tuesday on Mathis, who’s very much in the mix to be the Mountaineers’ second tailback behind Leddie Brown.
The only other unexpected absence was true freshman quarterback Will “Goose” Crowder, who was out with a stomach virus.