O'Donohoe ready if ever called upon

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- It's amazing Brennan O'Donohoe's right leg hasn't gone to sleep while he's been waiting his turn to kick field goals for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
In three games since O'Donohoe, a freshman from El Dorado, was named the team's No. 1 place-kicker, he has attempted one field goal -- a 22-yarder he made in Arkansas' 52-6 victory over Louisiana-Monroe.
O'Donohoe also got to kick seven extra points against the Indians, and combined with his field goal, that's quadruple the chances he's had to kick in two SEC games.
In Arkansas' losses to Georgia (38-7) and South Carolina (27-7), O'Donohoe only got off the sideline to hit two extra points after the Razorbacks scored fourth-quarter touchdowns to avoid shutouts.
It seems a waste of a kicker who, during his high school career, hit 16 of 26 field goal attempts for El Dorado.
But O'Donohoe isn't complaining.
"It will escalate. We'll be doing real well," he said of the Razorbacks' offensive production. "I'll get my chances, and when I do, I'll get out there and do my best."
After having an open date Saturday, Arkansas (4-2, 1-2) has five SEC games remaining against Auburn, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Mississippi State and LSU.
"We've got half a season left," Razorbacks Coach Houston Nutt said. "Brennan's going to have his chances."
Nutt decided against giving O'Donohoe a chance to try a 50-yard field goal early in the second quarter at South Carolina when the game was scoreless and the Razorbacks faced fourth-and-6 at the Gamecocks 33.
O'Donohoe has been bothered by a lingering groin injury, and Nutt said he doubted having him try and kick in that situation would be a smart call.
"When you haven't been showing you can hit it or you don't feel good about it, it's a wasted play," Nutt said.
The Razorbacks went for the first down and fullback Rod Stinson was stopped for no gain.
O'Donohoe said he wouldn't have hesitated to attempt a 50-yarder if Nutt had called upon him.
"But it was Coach Nutt's decision, and I trust him to do what's best for the team," O'Donohoe said. "He knows exactly what we need to do."
James Shibest, who coaches Arkansas' special teams, said he's confident O'Donohoe will do well under pressure when he gets the opportunity.
"Sometimes he looks bad in practice, but when we put him in pressure situations, he always seems to respond well to them," Shibest said. "I think if [a field goal attempt at South Carolina] had been anything 45 yards and under, we'd have tried it.
"But when we went for it early, we wanted to make a statement. It didn't happen in that situation, but before the game we talked about how we needed to score touchdowns."
O'Donohoe injured his groin in preseason practice, and senior Tony Swartz won the place-kicking job. But after Swartz hit just 2 of 5 field goal attempts the first five games -- missing from 41 and 42 yards and having a 36-yard try blocked -- the coaches decided to switch to O'Donohoe with Swartz still handling kickoffs.
"Matt Swartz didn't do a horrible job," Shibest said. "He kind of had some bad circumstances there, and we just wanted to try and change the chemistry a little."
It's tough to judge what kind of chemistry O'Donohoe has because of his lack of opportunities. But he said his groin is feeling better and that he'll be ready to hit some field goals against Auburn if given the chance.
"When my times comes," he said, "I'll be ready."

This article was published on Thursday, October 19, 2000

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