West Virginia punter Oliver Straw is preparing to do more than just punt this season, as he will be the Mountaineers' holder in 2025.
"I was the backup last year and could do it if needed, but this year, I’m taking the holding responsibility," Straw said.
Straw is in his fourth season at WVU but has not had to hold during his tenure with the Mountaineers. However, as he matures as a player and roster cuts change who can play where, that means Straw will be the new holder.
Straw has played in 37 games in his career, and with his roots being from Australia, when he learned to hold, it's a lot different than the process of doing it here, live in game.
"We practice in Australia, and like a lot of things with the training in Australia, you don’t have a long snapper there, so it's completely different catching a hand snap versus catching a snapper throwing it to you," Straw said.
Holding is something Straw has worked on throughout his three years at WVU and something that he expects to be good at this upcoming year. Straw said he wants to be able to feel the game pressure and deliver in bigger moments for the Mountaineers.
"It’s something I practiced a little bit in Australia and refined, but it’s something that I’ve put a lot of work in over the last three years, because obviously you want to be on the field as much as possible in those big moments and a game-winning field goal could be the difference. So, being out there for that kind of thing would be awesome. But, done a lot of work over it the last three years," Straw said.
Part of learning to become a holder has also taught Straw about the art of holding. Straw said there are smaller parts to it that therefore help fuel the entire operation.
"There’s so many intricacies to the holding game that only specialists and special teams coaches really notice. It’s definitely a detailed but forgotten-about role for sure," Straw said.
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