Focused Tejada battles for Hogs’ kicking duties
Posted on Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Former Springdale High kicker Alex Tejada kicked his way to a full-ride scholarship at Arkansas. But the Hogs aren't ready to just hand over the placekicking keys just yet.
Tejada will battle Brian Vavra for the kickoff chores and will wrangle with Jeremy Davis for point-after and field-goal duty. And that fight isn't likely to end anytime soon.
"It's early but we've been happy so far," said James Shibest, UA specialist coach. "Jeremy's got the experience but we've put Alex in front of the team and he's composed himself well."
Davis earned the starting gig before the Vanderbilt game last season and remained Arkansas' placekicker until year's end. Davis, though, made just 6 of 13 field goal tries, including a key miss in Arkansas'17-14 loss to Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl.
But Arkansas coach Houston Nutt asserts Davis is much improved and Tejada is helping raise the bar for what looks to be a heated battle for the placekicking job this summer.
"That puts a bad taste in your mouth and it hurts," Nutt said of the loss to Wisconsin. "We've never really had that great kicker since I've been here. I''m excited and I really think this is going to be the year that we can really count on a guy once we hit that 30-yard line. I think with Alex and Jeremy, we've really got a chance."
While Tejada doesn't have the experience, he has snared the coaches' attention. Nutt said he's already impressed with Tejada's ability to zone in and tune out.
"We weren't done with practice yet and Alex had made a few in a row," Nutt said. "Coach [Chris ] Vaughn said to him, ' nice job. ' Most freshmen would have said something back or said thank you but not Alex. He just stared right through him. Alex has that Tiger Woods focus and I like that, especially from a kicker."
Davis lost his focus last season after making his first three field goals. He made just three of his final nine attempts.
"Jeremy was having a great year last year and in the last three games he gets in a funk," Shibest said. "That's what's tough about that position. We just remember the last kick and we tell them good or bad, move on. But Alex is composed and you don't see that often. Usually kickers are jittery."
And for a reason. Placekickers have one job and it's an easy assignment to blow. That tiny margin for error can fracture even the strongest of focuses.
Shibest recalled Stephen Arnold winning the kicking responsibilities after summer practices last season before handing over the keys to Davis.
"Stephen looked great in practice then he gets in a game and looks bad," Shibest said. "We had to make a switch. Then Jeremy has a good six, seven games and then doesn't finish as well."
Tejada knows all too well the feeling. While much had been made of Tejada's leg strength, his field goal accuracy was questionable in spurts. Tejada hit on less than 50 percent (16 of 34 ) of his field goals at Springdale High. He was 7 of 14 his sophomore year, 2 of 3 in his junior season and was only 7 of 17 in his senior campaign. Tejada's career long was a 55-yarder in a win over Jacksonville in the state playoffs his junior year.
"I don't look at those things so much," Shibest said. "We've had him in our camps and we knew he had great leg strength and excellent pop. We felt good about him and we feel even better about him now."
In Tejada's senior year, seven of his 10 misses were from 47 or more yards. He attempted six field goals in excess of 56 yards. Tejada said his longest try was 63 yards last season.
"I attempted some really long kicks and it messed with my head a little bit," Tejada said. "But I'm over that now and ready to go to work and compete for a job."
Tejada, though, made a staterecord ® of 184 point-after attempts and was heavily recruited. He received letters from Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Tulsa, Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt. He received scholarship offers from Arkansas and LSU.
"As a kicker, I know I am very fortunate to get a scholarship," Tejada said. "It's a great feeling to put on this jersey. Some might take it for granted but I don't. I've been thinking about what's it's going to be like kicking with 70, 000 people screaming at me. It's going to be exciting."
Even the coaches are enthusiastic about watching Tejada, Davis and Vavra duke it out for the various kicking chores.
"This is probably the best battle since I've been here," Shibest said. "We're going to let this thing be competitive as long as we need to to find our guy and we'll do our best to stay confident in him through the tough times.
"But what we want to know now is just who's going to win the job in camp. We're going to put this thing on a stage and whoever is going to go and get it, that's who we're starting with. But that could all change after that first game."
Tejada landed 75 percent of his kicks in the end zone while at Springdale. But this season the NCAA moved kickoffs from the 35-yardline back to the 30. That could mean Tejada's fight for kickoff responsibilities just got tougher.
"We've got a few guys who have strong legs," Tejada said. "When I first heard about the new rule, the first thing I thought was that it's a really long kick, 70 yards to get it in the end zone."
Vavra is currently the front-runner but both Nutt and Shibest are quick to point out that it's still very early.
"The success of our kickers could determine whether we kick it or defer," Nutt said. "We want to win that field position battle and it's going to put more pressure on our kickers. We'd love to get it inside the five with hang time. We'll see about Alex because Brian Vavra's got a strong leg, too."
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