Freshman kicker Matt Wogan has been primarily used on kickoffs this season, occasionally kicking extra points and field goals (he has attempted and made one field goal, a 38-yarder against Tennessee). Wogan talked with the Emerald after Tuesday’s practice, discussing his performance this year and Oregon’s main field goal kicker and punter, Alejandro Maldonado.
His performance this year
“There are a lot of places I need to improve in kickoffs and especially field goals. Some kickoffs are line drives, some go out the back [of the end zone], but it’s not about that. It’s about kicking a good ball. If I put one out there and the returner gets tackled inside the 10 [yard line], that’s better than kicking a touchback.”
How coaches reacted to his two out-of-bounds kicks against Nicholls State
“Like they should. ‘What the heck are you doing?’ they said, pretty much. ‘Kick the ball, focus.’ They weren’t necessarily dogging me and saying all this bad stuff, they were just telling me, ‘You’re better than that, do what you can do.’ They were pushing me but, at the same time, kind of encouraging me.”
His relationship with Alejandro Maldonado
“That kid, he’s an unbelievable help to me. He’s been through a lot with a bunch of different things and he’s just helped me out with the mental aspect. In the first game, if I had a bad kick, he’d come over to me and we had toilets in our hand — fake toilets, obviously — and we’d flush [the bad kick]. It’s done. Next kick. We both challenge each other. We both hold ourselves to a high standard. He’s gotten so much better and he’s gotten me so much better.”
On the criticism Maldonado has received
“That’s not really my place to say, but he’s come back every single year. He could’ve said, ‘I’m done with this, I’m done kicking,’ but he has a huge heart and a huge mind and he knows he can do it. I know he can do it. That’s why he’s still here and that’s why he’s still competing. He’s faced more adversity than probably anyone on this team has, and he’s continued to battle back and fight through it.”