Editor’s note: In the final 50 days before Chip Kelly and the Ducks return to the field to defend their status as Pac-12 Champions, the Emerald sports desk will take a look back at one Oregon alum each day whose jersey number corresponds to the amount of days left before the season opener against Arkansas State.
In 2005, placekicker Morgan Flint walked onto the Oregon football team having made the switch from soccer while at Bend High School in Eastern Oregon. At the end of the 2009 season, Flint ended his career as one of the best kickers in Oregon history. Simply put, he didn’t miss.
Flint was successful on 82 percent of his kicks for his career, good for second all-time at Oregon, and was fourth on Oregon’s career scoring list with 104 points. During the 2009 season, Flint connected on 16 of 19 field goal attempts, as well as a staggering 54 of 54 extra points – his 82 consecutive extra points spanning from 2008 to 2009 is an Oregon record.
His two biggest conversions that season came during a double-overtime victory over Arizona that propelled the Ducks to their first Rose Bowl in 15 years. With eight minutes remaining in the game, Flint struck a 43-yard field goal that wobbled toward the uprights before striking the crossbar and flipping through to tie the game (see the 5:50 mark of the linked video).
“Obviously when you don’t hit it well, you know right away,” Flint said to the Register-Guard. “And so when I hit it, I was looking down like, ‘Oh, man,’ he said. “Then I looked up and, ‘Whoooaa, maybe it has a chance … ut … ooooh, yes! It went through. All right!’ ”
Late in the game, Oregon drove 80 yards to tie the game on a pass from quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to tight end Ed Dickson with less than 10 seconds to go. Well, it would be tied once Flint converted the extra point. The snap appeared to skip off the turf, and holder Nate Costa got the ball down just in time for Flint to punch the ball through the uprights. Costa would win Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week for his handiwork – almost unheard-of for a holder.