By John Shinn
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has had a lot of questions about his kickers this season. Most have been answered with a frustrating tone.
This week, however, the Sooner coach was anything but gruff when the subject came up this week.
"My man, Patty!" he said when asked about Patrick O'Hara, the latest man to assume OU's place-kicking duties.
It was O'Hara who hit a 26-yard field goal and a pair of extra points in last Saturday's 65-10 victory over Texas A--M. Both came in the second half after the Sooners had long since iced the victory.
A lot of the Sooners' walk-on players in that game. But O'Hara was the only one playing in a football game for the first time in his life.
That's the deal with the sophomore from Topeka, Kan.; stories like his don't come to college football stadiums very often.
Two years ago, O'Hara had no football aspirations whatsoever. He'd been a soccer player since his earliest memory, but said he got burned out in his senior year of high school. When he enrolled at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., last fall, he figured he was done with sports.
It was his twin brother Steven who actually hatched the idea last February that both should try to become kickers.
"We figured why not try to get school paid for," O'Hara said.
They began video taping kicking sessions and sending them to colleges. Just about every school received one.
OU's coaching staff showed interest.
"Once I heard they were interested here I was like 'wow.' I mean I just threw it out there, like 'hey you never know,' that kind of deal," O'Hara said. "But there's no place better to come than here, Oklahoma. So I made the move."
That part isn't that odd. Each August, several walk-on kickers arrive in Norman in time for preseason practices.
Carter Whitson, who has been OU's holder the last three seasons, has seen many come and go.
"We didn't know anything about him, just some guy from Kansas, one of the guys like anyone," Whitson recalled. "He may be here for a week or 5 years, you just don't know."
But it was quickly apparent to Whitson that O'Hara had a cannon for a right leg that just needed to be harnessed. He made a good enough impression to stay around for the season. No one was figuring he was going to get a chance to kick this year.
But as Jimmy Stevens and Tress Way continued to struggle, Stoops started taking a closer look at O'Hara. Against Texas A--M, Stevens missed an extra point and Way badly misfired on a 35-yard field goal.
Sometime during the third quarter Stoops found O'Hara on the bench, and said: "Warm up. You're in next."
Whitson said O'Hara was nearly trembling when he jogged on the field, and for good reason.
"You talk about a soccer player -- he might have played in front of 100 people, now he's playing in front of 85,000," Whitson said. "That's a little different."
But the nerves might be a good thing.
"I'm going to try and get him more nervous," Whitson said. "He kicked that first one better than he kicked the next two. I'm going to try and talk him up and tell him this is the most important kick of your life every time. Because the first one he kicked really well. The other two he kind of stumbled his foot when he got relaxed."
There's no guarantee O'Hara will get an encore performance. Stoops said whichever kicker is the most consistent in practice this week will get the first crack Saturday at Texas Tech.
Stoops has shown he's not afraid to make a change after a misfire.
Then again, 10 months ago O'Hara was kicking football for the first time in borrowed football pads in an open field with his brother. Less than a week ago, he'd never played in football game.
"Now it's all happening," O'Hara said. "You never know what would happen unless you do it."
John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com
