EUGENE -- As native Southerners, Ian Wheeler and Matt Wogan grew up among the farthest away from Eugene of their Duck teammates. Now that they're at Oregon as punters, Wogan and Wheeler are two players UO hopes to keep farthest from the field come fall.

It's nothing against them, of course. But if the punter barely plays it usually means Oregon's offense, which routinely attempts fourth-down conversions, is doing something right.

Being almost invisible is nothing new for Ian Wheeler, though, who did plenty of things right last fall behind the anonymity of closed practices and scout team assignments. The redshirt freshman made a name for himself among teammates for his easy-to-cover kicks and consistency. Now Wheeler wants to complete his unlikely story of a self-taught Georgia walk-on to starter with a good finish to spring practices and, just possibly, a starting job in the fall.

"Punting is one of the hardest among field goal, kickoff and punts, it's the most technical because you’re in charge of everything," said the 6-foot, 200-pound Wheeler, who eschewed the specialist stereotype in high school by playing fullback and linebacker. "You’re catching the ball, you’re dropping it and you’re kicking it. I'd say definitely you have to relax. You can’t think about it while you’re doing it or you’ll mess up."

Wheeler is trying his best to stay relaxed this spring, too, but with a starting job within reach he's "pressing too hard, he's trying everything to be perfect," position coach Tom Osborne said. Oregon holds its spring game on May 3 at 11 a.m. inside Autzen Stadium.

The recent inconsistency has undercut a bit the excellent body of work he displayed all fall, when he became Alejandro Maldonado's backup by beating out scholarship punter Dylan Ausherman. Ausherman opted to leave the program in March to focus on academics.

What Wheeler does well is not out-kick his coverage. A booming punt is impressive to fans but can cause a special teams coach to cringe if it has little hang time.

That's why where some might view Maldonado's 39.9-yard average in 2013 -- which would have ranked him just 79th in the nation if he'd punted enough -- Osborne saw a thing of beauty. On eight returns last season, UO opponents averaged just 3.2 yards, ninth-lowest in the country.

"I’ve seen a guy who has a 54-yard punt with no hang time to it and the guy catches the ball and your nearest defender is 18 yards away," Osborne said. "You have no chance on a consistent basis to field those balls. Your team will suffer because of that."

What Maldonado excelled at in games last fall Wheeler matched in practices. Osborne wants the ball usually to travel no more than 42 yards. Wheeler's goal is about 45 with about five seconds in the air.

"I describe Ian as one of those guys who would hit .300 and hit three home runs versus the guy who hits .230 and hits 25 home runs," said Osborne, who called Wheeler's strength his steadiness, not the pure strength of his leg. "The biggest thing with any specialist at any position -- place kicker, snapper, punter, whatever -- is consistency, and that’s what he did a great job of last fall. He came in last year and beat out a guy who was on scholarship."

With Ausherman leaving the team and Maldonado's graduation, the punting job is up to Wheeler and Wogan, the sophomore starting place kicker from North Carolina. Wogan's punt/kick double is ambitious.

"It’s very hard because it’s a completely different motion," Wheeler said. "There’s a lot different technique-wise, the rhythm, everything."

Finding separation between the two this spring has been hard for Osborne at times.

Part of the difficulty is the logistics of practicing punting in spring football. Oregon doesn't like to practice all-out kicks often -- and there's no way the Ducks will rush nine players like Texas did twice in the Alamo Bowl -- and not all of the team's long snappers are practicing, Osborne said, so the scenarios never quite feel true.

Still, UO attempts to simulate the urgency of a game with certain drills. In one, punters must get off the kick in a certain amount of time, then kick it into a certain location. If they do it right, the team is saved from running lines. But with such limited opportunities, the punters know they must make them count.

"That's how the game is played," Osborne said. "That guy's performance now affects our team. But there’s nothing like going out there and not playing well or playing well. That snowball can roll either direction for those guys because they’re not going to pay 75 plays a game. Hopefully your punter will play four to five plays a game."

If there is little separation, there are also many similarities between Wogan and Wheeler, however.

Each speaks with a Southern drawl, was discovered by kicking at a Duck summer camp while in high school and was a product of the nationally renowned Chris Sailer Kicking camps.

Wogan got a scholarship, and Wheeler an open invitation to walk-on. Eight months later, the virtually unknown freshman with the stocky build is in line for a starting job.

"He knows he has a chance to compete for it and along with that for every walk-on it’s like, ‘Oh if I get the job I’ll have a chance at a scholarship,’" Osborne said. "He’s putting a lot of undue pressure on himself. He didn’t do well the first scrimmage but did well last week, and he had a great fall. During the whole month of December, gosh darn, he was crushing it."

Even Wheeler admits that his rapid ascension happened quickly. It was just seven years ago, as a sixth grader in Demorest, Ga., that he taught himself to kick in his family's backyard because it looked like fun. For inspiration he watched Georgia's Drew Butler, now with the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, and UCLA's Jeff Locke, the Minnesota Vikings punter.

It was at a camp at the University of Georgia, an hour's drive south from Wheeler's hometown, that Wheeler listened to Butler speak in person.

Butler, who won the 2009 Ray Guy Award as college football's best punter, preached a message of consistency. During April's spring practices, Wheeler has once again been reminded of its importance during his attempt to get on the field. Well, as often as an Oregon punter can get.

"The one thing over the years I’ve taught myself is consistency is key," Wheeler said. "You just want to drop it above your hip and make sure you’re swinging up through the ball."

-- Andrew Greif