Few fans were paying attention when Jason Reda missed an extra point attempt in the second quarter of the Western Michigan game. Most were still celebrating Kendrick Jones’ 28-yard run for a touchdown and hardly noticed that Reda was even on the field.

But Reda did miss. And when the excitement died down, it became clear that the freshman who had performed flawlessly for the first nine quarters of the season didn’t have a golden foot after all.

“I was like, ‘Oh, can’t let that happen, that cannot happen, I have to be perfect on extra points,'” Reda said. “I think it made me open my eyes a little more.”

To add to the pressure, it was the first time an Illini kicker had missed a PAT since 1998, ending a streak of 202 successful kicks and leading fans – and the coaching staff – to question how well the 19-year-old could stand up to the pressure.

Reda was the first true freshman place-kicker in 27 years to start his first collegiate game for the Illini. On top of that, the ten points he tallied in the season opener against Florida A&M; were the most for any true freshman since 1973.

While Reda now ranks fifth in the Big Ten for PAT kicking percentage, the question of whether a freshman can consistently perform in this conference has yet to be definitely answered.

The week after Western Michigan, junior punter Steve Weatherford kicked his first career field goal, as the coaching staff attempted to take some of the glaring spotlight off Reda.

“You know he’s taking a full load,” Weatherford said. “(He’s) an 18- or 19-year-old kid coming in here playing in front of 80,000 people.”

If anything has prepared him for the pressure he now faces, it is his high school experience as a key player for the soccer and football teams.

While Reda only began playing football in junior high, Rock Island football coach Vic Boblett could that even as a 14-year-old he had potential.

“His family had a strong soccer background, but it was obvious to us in eighth grade how light his foot was,” Boblett said. “I think as much as anything it’s his god-given talent.”

So Reda’s sophomore year Boblett approached him about joining his squad the following season, and Reda agreed to pick up the sport he had only pursued briefly a few years before, even though it meant juggling two practices a day with classes and a part-time job.

“He would have to be at practice in full pads by 6:30,” said Jason’s father, Gerard Reda. “It was so early and so cold during some parts of the year that he’d come home and we’d have to rub aloe on his cheeks because they’d be so chapped.”

At one game, after four or five kick-offs in the cold weather, a deflated ball and an exceptionally hard kick by Reda combined to tear the ball apart.

While the schedule was demanding, it set him up for a smooth transition to college.

“He’s used to 12- or 14-hour days, but now he has the ability to channel all that into one focus,” Gerard said.

Deciding to play football in college was tough for Reda, who was a four-year starter in soccer, earning all-conference and all-sectional honors.

“He grew up as soccer grew up here,” Gerard Reda said. “It was always his first love.”

But soccer is still growing, and Reda ultimately decided to stick with football, which already has an established culture surrounding it.

“It’s more of a thrill,” Reda said. “More fans come to football games; it’s just more of a family-oriented thing. It’s more exciting.”

Although he also looked at Iowa and Northern Illinois, Reda ultimately chose Illinois for its facilities, staff and academic reputation.

The decision paid off. Although he has only four years of football experience, Reda is not only one of six true freshmen to step onto the field for Illinois this season, he is the team’s leading scorer with 31 total points.

But the numbers don’t distract him from his role on the field.

“When I get out there I really try not to think about it,” Reda said. “I know I have to make it, but I’m not thinking, you know, ‘What if I miss?’ … I like to keep my mind clear when I get out there, focus on the task at hand.”

He is also quick to pass on any accolades to the rest of the team.

“It’s really an 11-person thing, all nine people blocking, then we have to have good snaps, which we’ve had awesome snaps from Kyle (Knezetic), then a great hold from Matt (Minnes), which he’s been doing an awesome job as well,” he said. “It takes a whole bunch of stuff to get a good kick.”

Gerard Reda agreed that his son received the attention for what is really a team effort but knows he can handle four years of pressure.

“What Jason gets is the glory and the blame,” Gerard said. “Throughout all of this, the kid has kept his feet on the ground. He’s stayed focused on the task at hand.”