(Eds: With AP Photos.)
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – After struggling last season and losing his starting job during fall camp, kicker Alex Zendejas has another chance with Arizona.
The Wildcats have named the senior their starting kicker again after junior-college transfer Jaime Salazar missed two field goals against Stanford last Saturday.
“The kicking game needs to improve,” coach Mike Stoops said. “We need more consistency from a certain range in our field goals to be able to get points, and that hurts. We’ve got a chance to tie the game up with two kicks, first, the last play of the first half, and first drive of the second half. It’s demoralizing.”
The kicking game is one of Arizona’s biggest concerns entering Saturday’s game against 10th-ranked Oregon in Tucson.
Salazar, who won the starting job in camp, is 1 for 4 on field goals. He hit a 27-yarder in the loss to Stanford, but missed from 45 yards right before halftime and 36 early in the third quarter with the Wildcats trailing 16-10. The Cardinal pulled away after that for a 37-10 win.
Since beating FCS school Northern Arizona in its opener, Arizona (1-2) has struggled to score points, also losing 37-14 to Oklahoma State two weeks ago.
Needing a jumpstart in the kicking game, the Wildcats are turning to Zendejas, who has made 31 of 41 field-goal attempts in his career, but had two extra points blocked in last year’s 30-29 loss to rival Arizona State.
“I’ve continued to practice and continued to prepare like I was going to play,” Zendejas said. “I haven’t taken a day off. I’m just grateful and blessed to have another opportunity out here.”
Arizona has other options for place kicker.
Special teams coach Jeff Hammerschmidt said John Bonano, who does kickoffs, is the closest to being available to kick field goals. However, Bonano hurt his groin when he kicked field goals last season. Another option is punter Kyle Dugandzic, who kicked field goals in junior college.
Hammerschmidt said Zendejas has handled the situation well. Zendejas replaced Salazar for an extra-point kick against Northern Arizona after Salazar missed one.
“He’s been a rock,” Hammerschmidt said. “He’s gone through some stuff. (The) NAU game, he went out there to kick and (fans) booed. How do you handle that when you’re a young guy? He’s been sitting back and waiting for his opportunity, and right now the door is open a little bit.
“We’ve got to get better in the kicking game. Everyone knows that. We’re hoping he’s the one to do it.”
Some of what has gone wrong for Zendejas has been mechanical, but there’s a mental side of it, too.
“I guess it’s a combination of things sometimes,” Zendejas said. “You’ve got to just trust you’re doing the right thing and go from there.”
Arizona’s offensive struggles go beyond the kicking game. The Wildcats average 55.7 yards rushing per game, last in the Pac-12 and 116th nationally. Stoops said he saw positive signs in the running game against Stanford. Keola Antolin and Ka’Deem Carey helped the running backs amass 91 yards, but the Cardinal registered five sacks.
Arizona finished with 51 yards rushing.
“Those are very talented runners,” Stoops said. “We just have to keep giving them more opportunities and block better at the point of attack.”
The Wildcats also need more big plays.
Receiver Juron Criner might have made more plays if he were healthier – he missed the Oklahoma State game after undergoing an appendectomy – and Arizona could use someone else to break free when he’s doubled, especially against a talented team like Oregon.
“We’re going to have to score more than 10 or 14 points,” Stoops said. “We need our offense to get the ball in the end zone and make kicks when you play a team like this.”
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