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Autzen
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Autzen Stadium
The home for Oregon football,
widely considered one of the na
tion’s loudest stadiums, enters its
37th season.
Autzen Stadium was originally
built in 1967 for $2.5 million and
moved Oregon’s football games
from its original home at Hay
ward Field.
Since its opening in 1967, the
Ducks have enjoyed great succe'ss
at home behind a strong fan base
that has annually produced a
tremendous home-field advan
tage. So far, Oregon has garnered
a home-field record of 118-82-5
(.588 winning percentage), in
cluding a 32-4 record since the
start of the 1997 campaign. The
Ducks have gone undefeated at
Autzen Stadium in four different
seasons (1990,1998-2000).
In 1995, the athletic depart
ment named the playing surface
after the winningest head coach
in Oregon history, Rich Brooks.
The year before, Brooks led the
Ducks to their first Pacific-10 Con
ference championship.
With Oregon’s success in re
cent years, a $90-million renova
tion project was put into action
two years ago. In 2002, Autzen
Stadium increased its capacity
from 41,698 to 54,000 fans and
added 32 luxury boxes.
Students, fans and alumni have
flocked to Autzen year after year
as it has now sold out 25 consecu
tive games.
The first game ever played at
Autzen Stadium was a loss to Col
orado 17-13 on Sept. 23, 1967.
The first win in the stadium’s his
tory occurred nearly a month lat
er in a 31-6 victory over Idaho on
Oct. 21,1967.
— Alex Tkm
Kickers: Missed PATs cost wins for teams
Continued from page 12
LSU has had its own kicking is
sues. The Tigers found themselves a
point short against Auburn because
Ryan Gaudet missed a PAT And
Gaudet was only called on because
starter Chris Jackson had already
missed two extra points this season.
In the SEC East, Tennessee's James
Wilhoit went from goat to hero
against Florida. The first missed extra
point of the sophomore's career left
the Volunteers trailing 28-27 with less
than four minutes left.
Like Vaughn, Wilhoit got a chance
to redeem himself, but in a far more
dramatic fashion. Wilhoit nailed a
game-winning 50-yard field with 6
seconds left.
“Just because 1 made the field goal
doesn't make me more important
than anybody else,” Wilhoit said.
“We played 60 minutes, and we all
made plays. It just happened that
mine was the final one.”
Other kickers weren't as fortunate
as Wilhoit and Vaughn.
Arizona's Nick Folk missed from
43 yards early in the game, then from
47 with less than a minute left and
the Wildcats lost to Wisconsin 9-7.
San Diego State's upset bid at
Michigan was foiled by two failed
field goal attempts in the fourth
quarter by Garrett Palmer. The
Aztecs lost 24-21, and the Wolver
ines avoided a second-straight loss
that would have all but eliminated
them from the national title hunt
midway into September.
Michigan's rival Ohio State is still
unbeaten thanks to the stellar kicking
of Mike Nugent — and a miss by Mar
shall's Ian O'Connor two weeks ago.
The Buckeyes were in danger of be
ing upset at home by Marshall in their
second game, but O'Connor missed a
35-yard field goal with just more than
three minutes left that would have giv
en the Thundering Herd the lead. Nu
gent then won the game with a 55
yarder as time expired.
He followed that up by tying a
school record with five field goals in
a 22-14 win over North Carolina
State on Saturday.
Courtesy | OSU Athletic Department
Oregon State kicker Alexis Serna missed three extra points in an overtime loss at Louisiana
State on Sept. 4. Serna's rough day received considerable media attention.
“If you know us, you know our
formula,” Ohio State coach Jim Tfessel
said. “We tell our quarterbacks, 'When
we get to a certain point, we've got the
three. Don't foul up the three.'”
Auburn coach Tommy Tliberville
doesn't see kickers getting worse, just
a few high-profile mishaps.
“It's more than just the kicker. It
starts with the snapper and holder, and
everybody goes hand in hand. I don't
think it's anything new,” he said.
Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe said
all the close games and intense scruti
ny might be taking a toll on kickers.
“I think it's probably tougher emo
tionally,” said Cutcliffe, whose Rebels
won their first game on Saturday
with a field goal in overtime against
Vanderbilt. “Plenty of close games
come down to is that place-kicker go
ing to hit. It used to be a game of
inches, now it’s a game of toes.”
Still, many coaches are reluctant to
use one of their precious 85 scholar
ships on kickers, leading to more walk
ons handling the important duties.
And if the NFL is any indication, it
would appear that reliable kickers are
getting harder to find. Gary Anderson
and Morten Andersen, both over 40,
are still on NFL rosters.
Unfortunately, neither has any col
lege eligibility left. ; <