■ SPORTS EXTRA FOOTBALL
Belden answers kicking questions for Oregon
Krts Henry
M.itt He I den t eme to Oregon
from Arizona amid a summer of
questions about the ku king game
The 18-year-old wu penciled
in ns the replacement foj Tnnmiv
Thompson, n semi legend among
Duck faithful for the somewhat
endless years he handled the ()rt»
gon ku king duties His shoe, or
!m k thereof, was thought to be
near impossible to repln< e
By the time fall practices were
over. Belden had eased into the
vacant kicking shoes and taken
responsibility for the Oregon
punting, placnku king and kit k
off duties.
Belden Began the season
described by Oregon head coat h
Kit h Brooks as "a voting man
who has vet to attend his first col
lege class."
On Sept -1 he played in his first
i allege football game it is now
Nov 1H and no one is talking
about the ku king game anymore
“I guess it means I'm doing a
good job sim e nobody is really
asking about the kicking game.”
Belden said. "I came in expect
ing In win till three jobs I thought
I could do it and that was mv first
goal.
"Along the way, week to wt*ek.
I've set some goals for myself. I've
gained some of them and others
I haven't I noed to gel to the point
where I gain all my goals each
week "
Those aren't exactly words a
jierson would exp»x:t to hear from
someone experiencing his first
full taste of football on the colle
giate level.
Thun again. Belden isn't exact
ly your average freshman kii ker.
Twice this season he has been
named the Hertz/Pm -10 special
teams Player of the Week
The first honor come after the
f)ui ks 22-7 road victory against
USC on Oct. 7 Bolden connect
ed on all three field goal attempts,
hitting from 24. 43 and 24 yards,
and punted three times fora t't i
The Campus
little Caesars
1930 Franklin Blvd.
MOW TOPPINGS?
WE GUARANTEE IT!
Big Big Caesar
;4 T9 6
tapping
Chccscr Chccscr
2 P\U*t
pound of c•-• ■O 2
toppAgp
Pcppcroni Pcppcroni
2 Kfiaa xmk*hJ «kW' # jaa«
!00 «*.•* of ^ %a * ®
Meats*! Meats*!
? K/«a* «ntfi popporoni
bacon Rater. tty*
teuMga A ! »•«<
Supreme Supreme
2 pUikl »iV pupparon*
t*W Rater* *****
te,tteg» muphroome.
gruur popp«r» A
orwam
We Deliver!! l
To U of O ( am pus
ArcJ Only
687-2848
yard average Two of his punts
were downed inside the t’Si 5
yard line.
Tin1 second honor i ante after
last weekend's 55-.il road vic
tory over Stan font He averaged
40.8 yards on five punts with
thn»e kit ks pinning the Cardinal
inside its own seven sard line
He also connected on tsvo field
goals from 27 and 14 yards
He I den is third in the Pac-10
Conference for field goals per
game at just over one splitting the
uprights per outing So far this
season. Bidden is 12 17 in Hold
goal attempts, connei ting at a 70
pen ent clip
His punting has been Incon
sistent for most of the.season
however Bolden still maintains a
solid near 40-ynrd average
"The punting has le-eii shaky
this year. Holden said "I II hit
one It!) yards and then I II hit one
.10 yards That's just llaus m my
let hnique that I have to really
work on this week and this win
ter to make myself lietter 1 need
to gel to the point where I'm hit
ting them 45 or 50 yards t ousis
tently "
When it comes to flaws 111 his
technique. Belden doesn't have
to go far in finding out Brooks’
thoughts on his progress Brooks
is also the s|HK.ial teams coach
"That was one of the things
that drew me hen?." Bidden said,
“just knowing that the head
coach was the spei 10I teams
coach That just made me believe
moul t smnou'A** ««i ’»«
Matt Beiden has stepped up In his first collegiate season and capa
bly filled the shoes, or lack thereof, of departed Tommy Thompson.
that (the kicking game) was a big
emphasis
"He's hard on me. but I like it
I've always liked coaches to he
hard on me because 1 expec t
myself to cfo so well When the
coach keeps on you. you kind of
have to keep on yourself to get
hotter "
Ha has thru*) more years of
Brixiks' tutelage to jterfix t a tech
nique that got Hellion sell* teii as
one of tf«' tnemfiers of the all-Arf
jtona squad hv the Arizona
Republic and also niirnml him
first lium all state honors in Class
4 A as a punter amt plat ekii ker
Holden cun net tint on five of 11
field goals during his senior son
son in Glendale. but four of his
missed attempts went from 60
yards or longer
Since coming to faigetie,
Deltlon has had to learn to deal
w ith Itfo on his own .is an out of
state i oI lege freshman in a i li
mate drastit ally different than
what fie was used to m Arizona
"I’ve loved every minute of it,"
Hidden said ibotit Ins new sur
roundings "l\vervfn>dy says that
it rains all the time here, hut
when voti ve seen the sun all the
time for 18 years, it's kind of a
mi e i hange T he weather hasn't
reallv affected {my kicking) at
all "
I he sin i ess ()regon has had in
football tins season hasn't hurt
Holden s feelings about signing
on to lie a Dm k
I've played on a lot of teams
and this is one of the tightest
teams I've ever played on.” he
said "It's been a great season I
can't ask for anything more than
what ive'vn done this season
"Now we just have to work on
making it a tradition and making
Oregon footlwdl rvsjas ted That's
one of the tilings that I'd love to
fie a part of arid not make this just
a one time season hut an every
day deal
RUSSELL*
ATHLETIC
Russell Athletic A NuBienci
poly-cotton sweats are virtually
pill-tree So they'll look better
longer, and vou won't have to
keep picking ugh tu/v balls off
your sweats
Russell Athletic NuBlend sweats
are made to be as long lasting as
the uniforms that they make for
professional athletes So t hoose
Russell Athletic's NuBlend
sweats, and leave the picking to
somebody else
UNIVERSITY
OF ORECON
Worn by America's Top Teams
MdSaAD