It’s easy to assign blame on a kicker, but how easy is it to complete a 40-yard field goal with millions watching and a BCS berth on the line? (Emily Carino/Emerald)
Last November, the No. 2 ranked Oregon Ducks were sitting in prime position to return to the BCS title game as they prepared for a matchup against the No. 13 ranked Stanford Cardinal. With a perfect 10-0 record leading up to the game, the Cardinal were essentially the last remaining obstacle standing between them and the long-awaited title of national champions.
While the game ended in an unexpectedly low-scoring 17-14 OT outing in favor of the Cardinal, the spotlight immediately fell on Oregon kicker Alejandro Maldonado, who had missed two crucial 42-yard field goals en route to the Ducks’ lone loss of the year.
Maldonado — fair or not — held the season in his hands (or feet) heading down the stretch and simply dropped the ball in the biggest moments of a near-perfect season. For someone who had the least room for error on the team — sometimes going whole quarters without seeing time on the field — it was only natural that fingers were pointing in his direction following the loss.
But after receiving mass blame following the most important game of the 2013 season, the following question holds: Was it entirely justified to put the blame on a kicker who was often sidelined due to the high scoring nature of Oregon’s offense?
Sean Bellotti, former Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti’s son and a former kicker at Sheldon High School, is now a kicker at California Lutheran and he doesn’t think so. Having faced pressures and hardships like those Maldonado has, Bellotti gave some insight into how difficult it really is to be in a kicker’s shoes.
“I don’t think you can blame the loss of any team in the sport of football (being a team sport) on any individual player,” Bellotti said. “Depending on the circumstances with the snap/hold it may or may not have been Maldonado’s fault that he missed the kick, but regardless that would not be the sole reason for the loss of the team.”
In addition to hearing first-hand experiences from a kicker, UO physics professor Robert Scott Fisher also gives insight into how difficult Madonaldo’s kicks at 42 yards really were under the circumstances.
Fisher begins by using what’s called a “demonstration” in the physics department to explain the aspect of accuracy. By using a human fist and arm, Fisher gave an estimation that may open some eyes.
Senior runningback Kenjon Barner (24) offers words of encouragement to junior kicker Alejandro Maldonado (41) after he missed his first field goal attempt in the Stanford game that possibly cost the Ducks a berth to the national championship game. (Nate Barrett/Emerald)
“Make a fist and hold it at arms length,” Fisher said. “The width of your fist at this distance is roughly 10 degrees — similar to the width of the goal posts from 42 yards. So, to make the kick from 42 yards the kicker has range of one fist’s width to make the kick.”
Fisher then went into the dynamics of force, combining the two aspects of accuracy and force to further break down the Maldonado misses at 42 yards. The following calculations were based off what Fisher called the “best case scenario,” so some factors including air resistance and the oblong shape of the ball were neglected to an extent.
“If we assume he hit the kick at a 45-degree angle (the best case for distance), I calculated that the ball would need to travel a total distance of 137.5 feet to just barely clear the crossbar of the goal posts (this is longer than 42 yards because it has to make it over the 10’ crossbar),” Fisher said. “To do this, he needs to strike the ball so it leaves his foot at a 45-degree angle at a speed of 45.3 miles per hour. This is approximately equal to the force you need to hold up a 19 pound rock (or books or whatever) against the force of gravity.”
Fisher finished by giving a basic summary of the aforementioned examples.
“Go out and find something that weighs 19 pounds (force), pick it up and hold it,” Fisher said. “Now hold your fist out at arm’s length (without the rock) and look at how small that angle is (size of the angle). Your job is to put that much force into the ball, using your leg, while 11 ‘Stanford trees’ are trying to come at you and rip your head off, within that small angle, all while 55,000 of your closest friends and family are watching, with the pressure of a perfect season on the line.’”
The bottom line is that Maldonado’s misses contained much more than a 17-14 OT loss at the end of the night. He may not have led the Ducks to their second BCS championship berth in as many years, but his job wasn’t as easy as some make it out to be.
“I think it’s something crazy that you prove yourself in,” Maldonado said. “I’ve always wanted to be a kicker, be in front of a thousand fans, but it takes a person that is really tough, mentally tough and someone that has a drive and love for it. When you’re out there on the field, you just think about your job really; especially with my experience in the past, that’s all you want to think about; what’s on the line.”