Football Practice Report: Oct. 27
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Autzen Stadium
Format: Walk-through
Not to be overlooked in the aftermath of Oregon’s 12th straight win over Washington, nearly two weeks ago now in Seattle, was the career day enjoyed by UO punter Ian Wheeler.
A sophomore from Demorest, Ga., Wheeler punted five times against the Huskies, for an average of 45.6 yards per attempt. That was the best average of his two-year career, for games in which Wheeler punted more than once.
Wheeler also pinned the Huskies inside their own 20-yard line three times, something he’d done just once before. His first punt was a “coffin corner” kick that travelled 50 yards and went out of bounds at the 5-yard line; on the last three, the UW returner signaled for a fair catch, negating the opportunity to break off a long return.
Add all of that up, and it was the best performance of Wheeler’s tenure with the Ducks.
“It was nice to see it carry over from practice finally,” Wheeler said Tuesday, after the Ducks’ walk-through for Thursday’s game at Arizona State (7:30 p.m., ESPN). “I’ve punted well in practice for many weeks in a row. It was good to actually perform in the game like I knew I was capable of.”
Wheeler spent the 2013 season as a walk-on practice player. He was named the Ducks’ starter for the 2014 and awarded a scholarship, then endured an up-and-down campaign. Wheeler had a solid day in Oregon’s win over Michigan State, averaging 43 yards on seven punts, but also endured games like one at California in which he averaged 29.5 yards on four punts.
The 2015 season has been similar. Wheeler averaged better than 44 yards per punt against both Georgia State and Washington, but less than 35 at both Michigan State and Colorado. For the year, Wheeler has 30 punts for an even 40-yard average.
His goal thus is consistency, which is most likely to be a product of confidence – borne of consistency, a tough catch-22. To get a grasp of the intricate relationship between the two, Wheeler has studied film and consulted with NFL punters.
Former UO and NFL punter Josh Bidwell is serving in an off-the-field advisory role for the Ducks this season, and regularly attends practice. Wheeler has also consulted with St. Louis Rams punter Johnny Hekker – an Oregon State graduate.
“He’s a Beaver, but he’s an awesome guy,” Wheeler said. “I’ve played golf with him before, and we’ve talked a lot.”
Wheeler isn’t the first UO kicker to cross Civil War battle lines in search of help. Former Oregon placekicker Alejandro Maldonado consulted with ex-OSU kicker Alexis Serna late in his career.
Wheeler said his relationships with Hekker and Bidwell have been invaluable.
“It’s awesome,” Wheeler said. “It’s cool to see they’re real people. They are that level, but there are also mistakes that every punter’s going to have. It’s more of a mental game. It’s cool to have that resource.”
Other observations: Since practice was conducted at walk-through speed, there are no highlights to offer. … True freshman offensive lineman Calvin Throckmorton was up with the travel squad again today, putting him in line to make the trip to Arizona on Wednesday. The preference obviously would be to continue holding Throckmorton out as a redshirt. … The walk-through format involves four extended offense-defense periods, broken up by special teams work. As the defense gathered for the last team period, coordinator Don Pellum yelled, “We’ve won three, let’s win four.” Apparently he liked what he was seeing to that point in the morning.
