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The point spread on Saturday's BYU-West Virginia football game has gone from WVU favored by 4.5 points to 7, but most prognosticators are calling for a closer game than that. If it is, the Cougars could be in a bit of trouble.

Freshman kicker Jake Oldroyd, who made the last-second field goal to beat Arizona 18-16, did not practice on Tuesday and is listed by special teams coach Ed Lamb as "hopeful" for the game on Saturday.

"As far as I know, he is hopeful for the game," Lamb said. "There were some medical terms thrown around [by the training staff], and I don't have any training in that area, so I don't remember what it was. But there were some big words. … my understanding is that we are hopeful that he is ready to go on Saturday."

Oldroyd will still make the trip to Washington, D.C., but if he can't play, sophomore Rhett Almond will handle the place-kicking chores, Lamb said. Almond kicked the two PATs after BYU's touchdowns in Saturday's 17-14 loss to UCLA.

Lamb said Oldroyd was actually showing signs of the injury, yet to be officially disclosed by BYU, before he attempted the 55-yard field goal at the end of the first half that was blocked.

"It was something that just kinda showed up in pregame and then just got worse and worse," Lamb said. "We felt like the right thing to do was rest him for the rest of the game, at halftime."

Almond looked shaky on the only field goal he has attempted, one that snuck over the crossbar in Arizona. But Lamb said he is confident the sophomore can rise to the occasion in the nation's capital.

"Absolutely," he said. "I had confidence in Rhett going into Game 1. I had confidence in him when he was standing in our own end zone, at Utah, to go in and catch the snap in a critical situation. He delivered a nice, high punt that was fumbled by the returner. I think there is tremendous strength when guys have been in the lineup, then replaced in the lineup, then have an opportunity to come back. So I have high hopes for Rhett."

The Cougars bypassed a field goal attempt on their first possession against UCLA, going for the first down on 4th-and-8 from the 33. It wasn't because they didn't think Oldroyd could make a 50-yard field goal, he said.

"He can definitely hit from 50-plus. … When we get outside of 45 [yards], that's where he drops to maybe three out of four, or three out of five. From 50 plus, he's 50 percent, 1 out of 2 tries.

The kick [that was blocked] was well struck in the game, but as often happens on a long field goal, just low trajectory. We had to kick it at a lower trajectory to get the distance out of it, and we didn't quite hold [protection] long enough up front."

Overall, Lamb is happy in the special teams' play, but wants more.

"I think the coverage men are really playing with so much courage, and effort, right now," he said. "They are really the heart and soul of the whole team. They bring effort to a cause that is often overlooked. They take it very seriously, their ability to get down the field and make tackles. I think in the return game, we can get more going in our kickoff return and our punt return and be more dynamic in our special teams. We have had some close games, and left some yardage out on the field, I think, in both our punt return and our kickoff return."