Meeting Molina

If you haven’t heard the name Mike Molina yet, learn it.

That’s because the redshirt junior kicker is set to serve as the starter for West Virginia through at least the first three games of the season. With Josh Lambert sidelined due to a suspension, it will be the Hurricane native that is called upon to handle the work through the non-conference portion of the slate.

But who is Molina?

Standing 5-foot-8, 180-pounds, Molina has seen action in five career games over his career serving on kickoffs but what exactly does he bring to the table in Lambert’s absence?

According to assistant Mark Scott quite a bit as the kicker is primed to seize this opportunity.

“He has an extremely long leg. That’s never been the issue. He probably has the fastest leg swing,” Scott said. “He is small but is extremely powerful and has a great leg. We just have to clean up some technique things to make him more consistent.”

Because Lambert did not practice with the team until last week, Molina has received all of the starter’s share of work but overall he hasn’t noticed too much of a shift from his previous springs.

“It’s been kind of the same it’s just more reps with the ones. I just get more reps throughout the whole practice,” Molina said. “I’ve been doing the same thing for three years it’s just more live team reps.”

Luckily for Molina he has a former Lou Groza finalist on the sidelines that can give him some additional advice and help critique him as goes through the course of the spring and summer. That means that when Molina doesn’t hit a ball well he can receive pointers on what went wrong with the operation or execution from Lambert in addition to instruction from Scott.

Molina hasn’t let his new ascension into the role of starting kicker affect his mental state as he has taken the same approach that he has had throughout his career.

“I just have to keep the same attitude,” he said. “Nothing has really changed.”

The kicker has felt that both the strength in his leg and contact he’s made with the ball have been great throughout spring drills but the biggest hurdle moving forward will come in one area. And making leaps in that area will be the difference between a good and a great start to the year.

“My goals are just consistency,” he said.