UO kickoff specialist puts best foot forward.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

He was a letterman in a couple of other sports besides football. He was good enough in track and field to score in the state high school championships.

The game at Houston was his first experience at college football, and even he wasn't quite sure when, or if, he'd make his debut on the field.

That would be Matt Evensen, a very good three-sport athlete at Franklin High School in Portland who has become much more of a specialist as a redshirt freshman on the Oregon football team.

Evensen's assignment is kickoffs, a role he took over in the first half of the opening game and did well enough that he's expected to continue on Saturday when the Ducks have their home opener at Autzen Stadium against Montana.

`I thought I did all right,' Evensen said. `I wasn't really sure if I was going to get into the (Houston) game at all but when I got my chance, I did what I do best.'

After Paul Martinez, who tied the UO record with five field goals in the game, handled the first three kickoffs for the Ducks, UO coach Mike Bellotti decided to give Evensen a turn at it. His first kickoff was fielded at the 2-yard line, and his next went through the end zone.

That seemed to decide that competition, for that night, anyway.

`He provided a spark in the game when we needed it,' Bellotti said of Evensen.

One of the key factors in Evensen's showing off his leg strength, the coach said, was that he was limited to kickoffs in recent practices instead of also working on field goals.

`I think I screwed him up by trying to make him a field-goal (kicker),' Bellotti said. `Now that he's focused on kickoffs, that explosion has come back.'

Or as Evensen explained it: `I've been kind of mixing up those two. I was doing kickoffs on my field goals and field goals on my kickoffs. ... I've been focusing (now) more on my follow-through on kickoffs for more power.'

Evensen has never been so specialized. In the falls of his high school years, he did all the kicking and punting for the football team when he wasn't playing soccer for Franklin. In the spring, he ran the 400 and 800 for the track team and was a good enough long jumper to finish second in the state Class 4A meet as a junior in 2003 and fifth as a senior, when he was also eighth in the 400.

`I got my speed through soccer,' Evensen said. `I've always been pretty fast.'

Now the goal is to be high and long on his kickoffs, to either aid the coverage or make a return unlikely if not impossible by putting the football in the end zone.

`They want us to kick it deep as much as we can,' Evensen said. `Sometimes they want us to do sky kicks, where you get under it. I have a natural left hook with my kicks so most of the times I kick it deep left, and I can do that pretty consistently.'

Holding it, again

Lost between the steady snapping of Eric Steimer and the kicking of Martinez in making five of his six field-goal attempts was the holding of Brady Leaf on placements.

The sophomore quarterback took over the job midway through last season after showing a knack for doing something he'd never done before, and both former kicker Jared Siegel and now Martinez have benefitted from his steady holds.

`I just tried it and Siegel liked the way I held it,' Leaf said. The key factor, he said, is `get it down quick. That's the biggest part, getting the ball down so the kicker can see it.'

Leaf said he doesn't notice much difference between Siegel and Martinez except for one being a four-year letterman when Leaf held for him and the other being in his first season of full-time duty as a kicker. Martinez did punt two years ago.

`Paul has the capability of kicking it from anywhere on the field,' Leaf said. `He didn't seem to get nervous that much. ... He was pretty focused.'

The Montana connection

As a Montana native, Leaf is probably the Duck most familiar with the Grizzlies. There is a trio of Leaf's former high school teammates on the Montana roster, and obviously a few other Grizzlies who competed against Leaf in high school.

`The University of Montana puts up a good fight, especially when they come (up against) a Pac-10 school,' Leaf said. `They're going to show up, I know they will.'

And they told him so.

`It's fun talk,' Leaf said. `They were telling me they're coming after us to take us down.'

Defensive line shuffle

With senior defensive end Devan Long unlikely to play Saturday because of a strained knee ligament, the Ducks will probably move senior Darius Sanders from his right end spot to Long's position on the left side, with junior Victor Filipe starting at right end. Sanders and Filipe had contended for that starting spot in fall camp.

Another option for the Ducks is using more of their `odd' front, with three defensive linemen and four linebackers instead of the standard 4-3 defensive alignment.

Bellotti said Oregon could also move Matt Toeaina from tackle to end since he split time at those positions in the past. If Toeaina were at end, it would likely increase the playing time at tackle for redshirt freshman Cole Linehan.

`We'll get our best four on the field,' Bellotti said of experimenting this week with alignments and personnel.

OREGON FOOTBALL UPDATE

Pac-10 honors: Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens and kicker Paul Martinez were chosen as the Pac-10 players of the week for offense and special teams, respectively.

Clemens passed for 348 yards and compiled 420 yards of total offense, the latter figure the second-highest total in the country last weekend, in Oregon's 38-24 win over Houston. Martinez tied the school record with five field goals, including a long of 51 yards.

UCLA linebacker Spencer Havner was named defensive player of the week. He was in on 13 tackles and intercepted a pass as the Bruins defeated San Diego State.

Receiver roll call: Wide receiver Garren Strong, who suffered a strained groin in the win over Houston, is expected to play this week, barring any setbacks, though he was held out of practice Tuesday. James Finley, who led the Ducks with 10 receptions in the opener, was also held out of Tuesday's practice with a minor foot injury suffered the previous day.

Brian Paysinger, another wide receiver, isn't expected to be back until next week though he has begun jogging on a treadmill and ran on the sidelines Tuesday. Paysinger suffered a tear to a knee ligament and a sprained ankle a month ago. UO coach Mike Bellotti said the knee is healing well but there remains some swelling in the ankle.

Without those three receivers, the Ducks were down to five scholarship receivers working with the regular offensive units on Tuesday.

Still no decision: Bellotti said the Ducks are still awaiting a final determination on the eligibility of Pat So'oalo, a junior college transfer expected to contend for a starting berth on the offensive line. So'oalo finished his course work at Fresno (Calif.) City College last month but hasn't been able to practice with the Ducks while he awaits a ruling on his status.

Asked Tuesday if the Ducks could expect So'oalo to contribute after missing so much practice time, Bellotti said `it's never too late' to be a potential contributor.

The start of classes in less than three weeks looms, however, as a deadline for So'oalo. There is also obvious concern about So'oalo's physical condition since whatever workout program he's been doing has been on his own.

Next game: Saturday against Montana at Autzen Stadium at 12:30 p.m. TV: No live telecast.