Oregon daily emerald., September 16, 2005, Page 3, Image 3

Roughing THE kicker: Martinez focuses on future, not past
Following two seasons as an inconsistent punter,
Martinez broke the school record in the second game
BY scorn. ADAMS
SPORTS REPORTER
Junior placekicker Paul Martinez
bears the typical appearance of
any kicker on the field with his
smaller face mask, his pristine jersey
and his long-sleeved jersey for staying
warm on the sideline.
Yet as his concurrent Pacific-10
Conference Special Teams Player of
the Week honors earned this season
suggest, Martinez is more than meets
the eye.
With only two games under his belt
as Oregon’s starting kicker, the 20
year-old Martinez has been a scoring
force that Oregon head coach Mike
Bellotti can rely on. Martinez’s six field
goals against Montana last Saturday
were good enough to land the Walnut
Creek, Calif., native a spot in Oregon’s
record book for most field goals made
in a game, and also tied a Pac-10
record. As of press date, he leads the
nation in three-pointers per game with
11-12 made thus far. Martinez already
has more field goals made this season
than Oregon had all of last season. The
Ducks recorded only nine in 2004.
Heading into this season there
was doubt from both fans and me
dia surrounding Martinez, whose
performances on the field as Ore
gon’s starting punter were subpar in
2002 and 2003. Martinez steadily
progressed as a freshman, but failed
to prove himself reliable for Oregon
despite being named to the Pac-lO’s
first-team all-freshman unit by The
Sporting News magazine.
Martinez was on the bench for the
majority of his sophomore year having
only two punts to his name in Ore
gon’s season-opener against Indiana.
He did manage to get in some game
time kicking experience — a single
PAT converted against Idaho.
The biggest disappointment of
2004, Martinez said, was not his
lack of playing time but his absence
from placekicking.
“2004 wasn’t necessarily a wake-up
call for me, but I was upset because I
wasn’t kicking field goals,” Martinez
said. “I just had to keep a good attitude
and wait for my chances to contribute
to the team.”
Since Oregon’s season opener
against Houston, the opportunities
have come by the dozen for Mar
tinez. He had six attempts against the
Cougars and showed his unchanging
ability to make field goals at any dis
tance. He made a trio of chip shots
from inside the 40-yard line and
added a jaw-dropping 51-yarder to
silence his critics.
“I didn’t even see it go in,” Mar
tinez said. “The big linemen were in
front of me and I was busy jumping
up and down trying to see over their
shoulders and they looked back and
told me it went in. It was a big experi
ence for me.”
The kick marked a career distance
record for Martinez, but it was not the
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first field goal he has made from 50
yards out. He notched another in his
senior year of high school at San Ra
mon Valley high in Danville, Calif.
While attending school there, Martinez
was a three-year starting placekicker
for head coach Dave Kravitz and was
one of the top-ranked prospects in the
far west as listed by Superprep. He was
also one of the top 15 punters in the
nation, averaging 4.5 seconds of hang
time on punts that included a 53
yarder scored in 2001. In his senior
year, he made 12 of 15 field goals and
accumulated 90 points. He earned spe
cialist MVP honors his junior and sen
ior years and numerous accolades
from different newspapers in the bay
area, including the San Francisco
Chronicle and the Contra Costa Times.
Martinez said he relishes having
more than his fair share of opportuni
ties to put points on the board for
Ducks, but would like to see Oregon
reach the pylons more in the redzone.
“I’m surprised with how many
kicks I’ve had. I want to make every
kick every chance I get and I love kick
ing field goals, but it would definitely
help our team more if we could find
the endzone more often,” Martinez
said. “It’s cool setting records and
making field goals is a big deal to me,
but so is making PATs and seeing us
score touchdowns.”
Bellotti would also like to see his
team notch more touchdowns and not
have to rely on Martinez to be the
Ducks’ only source for scoring.
“Field goals are nice to have, but six
field goals are not going to get us past
Fresno State,” Bellotti said. “We need
Tim Bobosky | Photo editor
First-year
placekicker Paul
Martinez set an
Oregon record
with six field goals
against Montana
last week.
Martinez is 11 of
12 for the season,
eclipsing the
team’s mark of
nine total field
goals last season.
to have more scoring production from
out offense if we are going to be a con
ference contender.”
Bellotti may not be satisfied with
Martinez’s number of attempts, but
he is more than content with his
accuracy.
“He leads the nation by a long way
in field goals and has been doing a
great job for us going 11 for 12,”
Bellotti said. “He’s not perfect, but
pretty darn close. ”
Following the close of the 2004 sea
son, Oregon was faced with breaking
in a new placekicker for the first time
in four years following the graduation
MARTINEZ, page 7
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