The kicking game in collegiate football is about as sexy as an offensive lineman in a Speedo.
When analysts discuss some of the nation’s best teams, quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers get the recognition, attention and Heisman talk.
Punters and place-kickers are normally left aside, anonymously standing on the sidelines waiting for their chance. While most quarterbacks throw the ball 30 times a game and runners dance through holes no bigger than a credit card, the kickers get very few chances.
But as is becoming the norm in college football, those few chances can mean a win or a loss, and in some cases, a national championship.
Case in point: Michigan’s come-from-behind victory over Washington to start the season was earned after its kicker split the uprights with just a few ticks left on the clock.
At Oregon, the mentality that the punter and place-kicker can be a team’s most valuable weapon is no different.
The Ducks have already found that out the hard way.
“I think you can look at it when we played the Fresno State game and averaged 20 yards per punt,” head coach Mike Bellotti said. “That changes the whole complexion of a game. When you average 42 yards per punt, it is truly something different that can keep people at bay, and give them a long field. Obviously with us returning about 18 yards per punt return, if we can do 42, there’s a tremendous amount of field position over the course of time that’s going to come our way.”
After two sub-par performances, in which he averaged a combined 34.6 yards per punt against Mississippi State and Fresno State, punter Jose Arroyo impressed the Oregon fans with a 45.5 yard average against Idaho last weekend.
The senior was not terribly
impressed with his performance. In fact, it’s something that he expects of himself every game.
“I think maybe I just prepared more mentally,” he said about his performance against Idaho. “I know that I could punt like that. I’ve been doing it in practice. I just needed to bring what I was doing in practice to the game.”
On the offensive side of the kicking game, sophomore Jared Siegel has been consistent, already having knocked eight kicks through the uprights in just nine tries. That’s already one more make than all of last season, and with nine games left on the docket, is on pace to eclipse last season’s attempts (12) three-fold.
“It’s just reinforcement that I’m being efficient and taking advantage of my opportunities this year,” he said. “I’ve just had a lot more opportunities early on than I did last season. It’s important to capitalize on those.”
The cliché of the player who had to adapt to the team, missed opportunities, and didn’t perform to their maximum level is one that is used too often to describe the harrowed athletes who step onto the gridiron. But Siegel and Arroyo fit that bill better than anyone on the Oregon roster.
Arroyo, like Siegel, put on a Duck uniform for the first time last season after transferring from Pasadena Junior College. As a sophomore, he was a first-team all-Mission Conference selection after averaging 37.5 yards per punt.
His average rose while with the Ducks, to 38.7 yards, but Arroyo was dumped into the spotlight on Oct. 20 against Stanford.
The Cardinal blocked two of Arroyo’s punts en route to a 21-point come-from-behind victory to stun Oregon for 49-42.
The way Arroyo speaks, it seems as though the differences between this season and last season are like night and day.
“I put a lot of high expectations on myself,” Arroyo said. “I have a lot of high goals. (Last season) I guess I just came out there and was just anxious. (This season) I want to go out there and just accomplish (the goals). I’m putting more on myself than I did last year. Last year was more demanded by Oregon, but now it’s by me.”
Siegel jumped into the spotlight quite a bit earlier than Arroyo.
The 1999 all-California honoree sank the game-winning field goal against USC for a 24-22 victory in Oregon’s third game of the season.
After having to battle challengers early for the kicking spot, Siegel, who, according to Bellotti, “had only been cleared to kick for about three months” before the season, finished the year 7-of-12. From within 40 yards, Siegel was 4-of-6. Beyond 40, though, proved to be his problem area after connecting on just 3-of-7 field goals attempted.
With that in mind, he set forth to get the leg strength required for
far distances.
“I hit the weights real hard in the offseason and put on some weight,” Siegel said. “I got a lot stronger and worked on striking the ball a little bit cleaner. I’ve added some significant distance to my kicks. I think I’ve added some range and will be comfortable to a farther distance.”
Nobody is more impressed
than Bellotti.
“He’s doing a tremendous job in kickoffs in terms of hang time and distance,” Bellotti said. “He’s an excellent athlete playing kicker that has a competitive nature and has won the respect of our team.”
Both have placed expectations on themselves to perform at a high level. The importance of earning that extra yard is not lost on Arroyo, and Siegel’s desire so far has produced the desired results.
“Every opportunity I have to kick the ball, whether it is a field goal or kickoff, I want to capitalize on the opportunity,” Siegel said. “So I set high expectations on myself because I know I’m capable of it and would expect nothing less of myself.”
Said Arroyo: “I just want to get my team out of bad situations, get good field position for the defense so we can stop them. For me, a good game would be just turning the ball over and getting good yardage on the ball with good hang time.”
For the Ducks, Arroyo and Siegel may step onto the field no more than 10 times a game. But, when it comes right down to it, those 10 times could mean the season.
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