BOULDER — Colorado freshman place-kicker Jameson Davis connected on his first college field-goal attempt last weekend, and it appears he will get more opportunities Saturday against Iowa State.
In Colorado’s 24-17 loss at Texas A&M, Davis booted a 30-yarder with three seconds remaining in the first half to put the Buffaloes up 10-3. Earlier in the second quarter, sophomore Aric Goodman hit the right crossbar on a 46-yard attempt. Goodman, a transfer from Wyoming, is 3-for-11 on field goals.
“I feel for (Goodman),” CU coach Dan Hawkins said. “He’s missed some close ones, and kicks pretty well in practice. But, hey, Jameson came in and made it. So probably the natural tendency is to lean a little bit toward Jameson (against Iowa State) and see how his leg holds up.”
Davis has handled kickoff duties all seasons, but a sore knee on his plant leg (left) made coaches reluctant to use him for field goals. Davis plans to get the knee scoped following the season.
“Now that we’re near the end of the season, it’s giving me a little more stress,” Davis said. “I haven’t torn anything. But when I kick a lot of field goals, it hurts more than on kickoffs, for some reason. It must be the way I plant my leg. On kickoffs, my leg is planted perfectly straight. On field goals, I bend it a little bit for accuracy.”
Goodman has missed seven straight field-goal attempts after going 3-for-4 in the opening three games.
“We had to do something,” special teams coach Kent Riddle said of switching to Davis. “Maybe this will take some pressure off Aric.”
Davis suffered a concussion during the second-half kickoff against Texas A&M due to a helmet-to-helmet collision with an Aggie blocker. Davis said he expects to play Saturday.
“I’m doing a lot better,” said Davis, who last had a concussion in the ninth grade. “At first I had a huge headache and it was hard for me to concentrate. But my symptoms are looking a lot better now.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
