Gazette-Times Reporter

Justin Kahut still has the confidence of Oregon State football coach Mike Riley, even if the sophomore place-kicker missed a field goal and an extra point that led to the loss at Utah last week.

Kahut will be the kicker this weekend against Washington State, Riley said. However, freshman Matt Barker and junior Sean Sehnem are being prepped to play just in case.

“I’m just trying to move on,” Kahut said. “Everyone has had bad games, failures in life. You just look ahead and make the best of it. I’m able to look at film and make changes. I feel a lot more confident now that I’ve made some changes.”

Riley expects Kahut to come back strong just like previous kicker Alexis Serna did after missing three extra points in his debut. Serna ended up winning the Groza Award the following year for being the nation’s best kicker and plays professionally in Canada.

After the Utah game Serna called Kahut and they talked by phone on Kahut’s bus ride to the airport. He reminded him that things could have been worse.

Even former special teams coach Bruce Reed, now with the Dallas Cowboys, sent words of encouragement.

“He’s a solid young man and he has a lot of pride in his craft,” Riley said of Kahut. “He hasn’t backed away from what happened in the game. He stood up like a man and went back out there. He will be our kicker this week.”

Adjustments Kahut made include not lifting his head during the kick and improving the angle he approaches the ball.

Serna constantly adjusted his kicking to maintain his level of success.

Kahut needs to do something different after an inconsistent start. He’s 3-for-7 on field goals and 8-for-9 on extra points. His leg strength is there, and he has been accurate in practice the last two seasons.

“He’s very capable, but it’s different in the ball games,” Riley said. “You have to perform. I just think he’s trying to aim the ball a little too much.”

Kahut had a hip injury and a pulled butt muscle that cause him to miss three field goals against Hawaii, but taking more than a week off helped him heal.

His issues at Utah weren’t caused by the injury, he said.

“I’m feeling good,” Kahut said. “I’m close to 100 percent. It’s still healing. I don’t feel pain when I’m kicking anymore, just a little fatigued afterward because I’m not used to kicking that much.”

The Beavers may take some of the pressure off Kahut by allowing Barker to be the kickoff specialist. Kahut hit two kickoffs wrong against Utah that led to big returns.

Kahut says doing the place-kicking and kickoffs isn’t a problem, but that will be determined later.

“I do understand if they want to make it a competition, but it’s nice to know that they still have confidence in me and roll with me,” Kahut said.

After Serna’s breakdown in a one-point overtime loss to Louisiana State in 2004, he felt concerned for his safety. Teammates were mad at him and an uncomfortable locker room scene occurred.

That wasn’t the case for Kahut this season.

“We have a great group of guys,” Kahut said. “No one was pointing figures at me. It was a nice atmosphere after the game.”