When Oregon State kicker Alexis Serna missed three PATs to ruin a potential Beavers upset of LSU in the 2004 season opener, coach Mike Riley knew the odds.
"A lot of kickers, that might be the last you ever see of them," Riley said. "That's just a fact of life in a deal like that."
But Serna is not most kickers.
He not only beat the odds by staying with the team, by winning back his job, by earning a scholarship just when he ran out of money.
He also won the 2005 Lou Groza Award — given to the outstanding kicker in college football.
"It's a great example for all of us in sports," Riley said. "He overcame that."
Serna, now a junior, will kick for the Beavers on Thursday night against Boise State at Bronco Stadium (5:30 p.m., ESPN2).
It will be his first action on the blue turf. He made the trip to Boise two years ago, just days after the nationally televised debacle in Baton Rouge, La., but did not play.
Serna has been clutch ever since, including a 3-for-3 performance last year against BSU in Corvallis. He booted the game-winning 29-yard field goal with 1 minute, 3 seconds left.
"I've got a lot of pride in myself," Serna said. "I couldn't let myself just fall out like that. I was going to fight back. ... I wear a name on my back, and that's my family name. I wouldn't want them to think I just gave up."
Serna's first two misses against No. 3 LSU allowed the Tigers to force overtime. The third, with Oregon State trailing 22-21, ended the game.
Some teams might have turned their disappointment into anger.
The Beavers, Serna says, did not. He was a redshirt freshman at the time and the game marked his college debut.
"I felt welcomed," he said. "If I hadn't felt welcomed, I wouldn't have felt like I wanted to be back on the field. ... You only perform as well as the environment that you're in, and I had a great environment."
Redemption came a week after the BSU game, in the home opener. John Dailey, who lost the starting job to Serna in fall camp but earned it after the LSU game, missed two field goals against New Mexico.
Riley called on Serna with a 14-7 lead in the fourth quarter. He hit a 35-yard field goal to clinch the win.
Serna didn't miss another kick during the regular season except for a field goal Riley says he shouldn't have tried because of field conditions.
"The major thing that he did was he just went back to work," Riley said. "It was a tribute to him."
Serna finished the season 17-of-20 on field goals with two misses in the bowl game. He didn't miss a PAT after the LSU game.
Still, he wasn't sure he would remain a Beaver. He was a walk-on from Fontana, Calif., and after two seasons in Corvallis he was out of cash.
He was thinking about a transfer to junior college when he met with Riley after the regular-season finale against Oregon.
"I walked into coach Riley's office and told him I couldn't afford it anymore," Serna said. "He told me there that I received a scholarship. ... It was a nice little ending to the season."
Serna came back last year and nailed 23-of-28 field goals, including three games in which he made three field goals and one in which he made six.
His record was nearly flawless until he went 1-for-4 against Stanford in the second-to-last game. He won the Groza anyway.
For his career, Serna is 69-of-72 on PATs — he hasn't missed since that night at LSU — and 40-of-49 on field goals. He missed his only field-goal attempt last week against Eastern Washington, from 49 yards.
Serna says his career goal was to win the Groza, but he's not content.
"I'm putting that behind me," he said. "I want to be 90 percent on field goals. I haven't been satisfied with 82 to 85 percent."
If he does have a bad outing, Serna says he'll just tap into his memory for inspiration.
"You keep everything in your mind, the lows and the highs," he said. "You need both of them. ... If I'm having a bad day in practice, or a bad day in a game, I'll use (my comeback) for encouragement to keep pushing on."
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