Byline: Mike Lucas
During his summer workouts, Scott Campbell would line up his kick in front of the uprights, measure the distance and the wind and visualize a sellout crowd of more than 79,000 cheering on the University of Wisconsin football team at Camp Randall Stadium.
This was pretty heady stuff for the 21-year-old Campbell, a junior college transfer from Georgia Military Academy, the JC national champion.
Helping him form these visual images was his father, Gary, a former defensive back at the University of South Carolina, who spent a week in Madison. His mom, Jennifer, also made the long trip from their home in Clemson, S.C.
'My dad would give me some different scenarios,' Campbell said. 'Like, 'This is the game-winning field against Michigan.' And I would just visualize that kick in my head. I could see the picture.'
Many can still see the same picture - the picture of a dejected Mark Neuser, head lowered, walking off the field after missing a 36-yard field goal in the final 1:26 of last year's Michigan game.
Neuser had a chance to break a 17-17 tie. Instead, the Wolverines capitalized on a fluke play - a Hayden Epstein punt bouncing off freshman Brett Bell - to shock the Badgers with a late field goal.
Neuser is no longer with the program. And that's why Campbell is here today.
'There is pressure,' Campbell conceded during Friday's media session at the UW's training camp at the O'Connor Center. 'But I like pressure.'
R.J. Morse can relate. While Campbell must beat out Adam Espinoza and Mike Allen for the placekicking assignment, Morse must live up to some high expectations, too, especially since he's the only proven punter on the roster.
'I never really thought about it that way,' said Morse when asked if the departure of Kirk Munden had placed additional pressure on his broad shoulders. Last season, they shared the punting duties with Munden getting 35 kicks, averaging 39.7 yards a boot. Morse had 28 kicks (41.6).
'Me and him (Munden) always used to back each other up, and keep each other going. So I guess now it does put more pressure on me.'
If nothing else, the Badgers may have the largest specialists in college football with the Campbell and Morse tag team.
'Coach Palermo has already told us that,' said Morse, alluding to UW defensive line coach John Palermo.
A year ago, Morse reported at 275 pounds. But, then, the Badgers got what they recruited: a punter-slash-nose guard from Walpahu, Hawaii.
Last spring, the 6-foot-1 Morse got his weight under control and dropped under 240. But he's back up to 250 and his only intention during training camp is to stay at a weight 'I can kick the best at.'
When it was suggested that he might be put on the salad diet with Campbell, he noted, 'They're not watching me as tightly as him any more.'
On the 2002 numerical roster that was released Friday to the assembled media, Campbell is listed at 225 pounds.
'I know that's how I'm listed,' he said, laughing. 'But that was back in January.'
Campbell is presently carrying 240 on his 6-foot frame.
'But I'm trying to lose some; they've got me on a strict diet,' he said. 'They haven't given me a (target) weight. But I'd like to be 220 or 225. I'm working at it.'
Despite his size, Campbell never played a position in high school football. He was a soccer player who didn't go out for another sport until the seventh grade. Even with a late start, he had immediate success as a kicker. He was a three-time all-state selection.
Even more impressively, Campbell was a Street & Smith All-American as a prep, and, at one time, the nation's all-time leading kick-scorer. He had a very good teacher in his older brother, Chris, who kicked for the hometown school, Clemson University.
'I still really look up to him,' he said. 'I always went to all of his game, following him through his career at Clemson. And he taught me a lot of fundamentals.'
Lately, he has been preparing himself to kick in front of big crowds. Or bigger than he had at Georgia Military. What was the normal turnout for a junior college game?
'Small,' Campbell said sheepishly. 'Very small.
'About 500.'
He had no troubling focusing. Last season, Campbell nailed 12 of 16 field-goal attempts, including three kicks from beyond 52 yards. In turn, he made a smooth transition from kicking off a tee in high school to kicking off the turf.
Morse has undergone a transition of his own, a complete makeover. As a true freshman, he showed that he had plenty of leg strength, booming six punts of 50 yards or longer. He had kicks of 63, 61 and 53 yards in his debut at Oregon.
But he struggled with his timing and techniques, resulting in some blocked punts. During the off-season, Morse changed his stance, the way he held on to the football, his drop and his leg swing.
'I'm trying to get my punts off a lot quicker,' he said, 'and have more flexibility to give me more height on my ball rather than straight shots.'
Morse confided that he had a lot of things on his mind during the spring game and it showed in his punting.
'It was about me not focusing and not feeling comfortable with the new techniques,' he said. 'But it has gone a lot better this summer.'
Does he feel like he has prove himself this fall?
'In a way, I do, because I want to contribute to this team,' he said, 'in the way they know I can and I know I can. It's time to grow up. I can't baby myself any more. It's time for me to step up to the plate and perform.'
An interesting choice of words for someone who's trying to push away from the table and a full plate. But you get the picture. So does Campbell.
'He's got a strong leg, a great leg,' Morse marveled.
What about his mindset, the placekicker's mentality?
'You have to keep your composure as a kicker,' Campbell said. 'The rest of the guys are getting hyped up, but the kicker has got to keep it calm, especially since it could come down to a game-winning field goal. You just have to keep calm, focused and relaxed.'
During his summer workouts, Campbell lined up the ball in front of the uprights and visualized a full house at Camp Randall. In the background, his dad was yelling out the scenario: Final seconds, tie game against Michigan.
And the kick?
'It was good,' Campbell said with a big grin.
CAPTION(S):
HENRY A. KOSHOLLEK/THE CAPITAL TIMES Wisconsin kicker Scott Campbell (left), a junior college transfer, and sophomore punter R.J. Morse (right) are hoping to give a much-needed boost to the Badgers' special-teams play in 2002.
