Elite kickers set for showdown

But, in the end, it is someone whom WVU punter/kickoff man Nick O’Toole spoke with on the phone this week said:

“This is the special teams matchup of the year.”

And, in this case, that is Craddock, the Australian, against Lambert, the Texan.

Head to head they are tied at 1-1. Lambert won last year’s game with a 47-yard buzzer beater to put the final points of a WVU 40-37 victory on the board, even though Craddock did kick three field goals during the game.

But last winter Craddock scored his victory by taking home the Groza Award to the surprise of no one, not even Lambert.

“Going into it I knew, basically, I wasn’t going to win. I had missed nine field goals,” Lambert said. “For me, it was more an experience thing, knowing what it takes to get there, seeing the type of figures that would be there.”

Craddock, on the other hand, had been far and away the nation’s best. He set a program record with 24 consecutive made field goal attempts, a streak that started in 2013.

He also set a Maryland record with a 57-yarder against Ohio State, finished the year with18 of 19 field goals made, the only miss from 54 yards.

One was a game-winner against Penn State and three others were key in beating Michigan in the Big House.

It was quite a resume for a kid who was teaching tennis in Australia and had never kicked before heading for Maryland and whose career got off to a shaky start when he missed a 33-yard field goal that could have beaten N.C. State three years ago.

To add to this week’s intrigue the two placekickers became friends during their time at the ESPN Awards week in Orlando.

“Brad is a great kicker and even a better guy. We spent a bunch of time together in Florida. Hopefully one day I can make it out to Australia,” Lambert said on Tuesday.

Craddock really is quite a guy. According to the Washington Post, he served on the leadership council during his junior year but at times wasn’t compelled to speak up because he wasn’t a senior. He went to Edsall after the season and told him he wanted to take charge of the group. He recommended the players that should be on the council, and Edsall agreed with all but one.

The two kept their correspondence up after the Florida ceremonies but have been silent this week.

In part because it would have been tough for Lambert to speak with him. WVU had a week off and Lambert headed out of town to his girlfriend’s cabin in Parsons.

“The road that leads back there is not really a road,” he explained. “If you didn’t know there was a cabin back there you wouldn’t guess.”

And phone service? Nah.

But the fishing is great and he his girlfriend could do a good bit of talking, just as Lambert and Craddock had done in Florida.

And no, he didn’t talk football with his girlfriend — or, for that matter, with Craddock.

“We’re kickers,” Lambert noted. “We don’t know anything about football.”