is 40'. Whereas the distance between the uprights is only 18.5'. If the ball is spotted at the 1 yd line or 1/2 yd line, then the holder will place the ball at either the 8 yd line or maybe the 8.5 yd line to give the kicker a slightly better angle. Brian Johnson is right footed and I believe the ball was placed on the right hash which means he would have to hook the ball. I believe it is easier for a kicker to hook the ball than to try to slice it from the opposite side of the field. However, the angle is so tight that he may not have been able to hook the ball in time. The other likely scenario is the kicker will often over hook it to try to compensate for the tight angle.

FWIW I found a YouTube clip of a WVU game where a WVU kicker misses a FG from about the same spot (opposite hash) as where VT would have kicked from last night. *Warning there is foul language and the guy shooting the video does not have a steady hand*

Also, I found a clip where a Texas Tech kicker missed a 20 yd FG from the same hash as where VT would have kicked from last night. The actual clip is in the middle of the article.

https://fansided.com/2017/11/18/watch-texas-tech-misses-short-field-goal/