Boot champ: Sakoda kicks it up a notch

Last spring one of the biggest concerns for Ute football coach Kyle Whittingham was his kicking game.

The Utes had lost reliable placekicker Dan Beardall and were looking to upgrade at the punting position where Louie Sakoda averaged just 37.1 yards per kick. On top of that, the snaps and holds weren't consistent, causing Whittingham plenty of grief.

However, four months later, two weeks into the 2006 season, the kicking game is the least of Whittingham's worries.

That's thanks in large part to Sakoda, who is pulling double duty this year, handling Utah's punting and placekicking chores.

Through two games, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound sophomore is a perfect 2-for-2 in field goals and 7-for-7 on extra points. He also has a 47.5 punting average, including a 75-yarder, the fifth-best in school history. He's already earned Mountain West Conference special teams player-of-the-week honors.

"Knock on wood, but two games in, Louie's done a great job," Whittingham said. "He's got a lot on his plate, but he has a great mentality. He's unflappable."

"Louie's been doing exactly what we've asked him to do," adds Jay Hill, one of the Utes' special teams coaches. "He's a special player."

As challenging as it is, Sakoda isn't the first Ute to handle punting and placekicking duties. Perhaps the greatest kicker in Ute history was Marv Bateman, who set records in both punting and placekicking for Utah in the late-1960s before taking his talents to the pro ranks.

In recent times, Wayne Lammle in 1990 and Dan Pulsipher in 1995 did double duty for Utah. In 2000, Golden Whetman started the season doing both, but was replaced by Ryan Kaneshiro at placekicker midway through the season.

The Utes prefer not to have one guy do both. They had planned to let Sakoda take over the placekicking duties and bring in a new punter this fall. However, Sakoda turned out to not only be the team's best placekicker but the best punter, and he has already shown the ability to boot the ball a few yards longer than last year.

Over the summer, Sakoda worked on his lower-body strength and said the workout sessions were the most intense he'd ever been through. He said he made just one slight technical adjustment in his punting, which has helped.

Sakoda is taking the double duty in stride, even if it isn't that easy to go back and forth between punting and placekicking.

"I like it a lot," he said. "At first I thought it might be a hard transition. It's two totally different motions. You switch from a straight-on kick when you punt to a soccer-style kick."

Sakoda's only break during the games comes when the Utes are on defense. Otherwise he has to keep on his toes, wondering if he'll be called on to punt or try a field goal and then put on the appropriate shoe.