One of the bigger concerns going into the Oregon game in Eugene was how the Buffs would handle their place kicking duties. Senior Diego Gonzalez ruptured his achilles tendon during the game at Michigan and will miss the rest of the season.
Prior to the injury, Gonzalez had kicked off 19 times and forced a touchback on 16 of those kicks. That was a vast improvement for Colorado from 2015, when the Buffs had 42 out of 69 of their kickoffs returned.
On extra points, Gonzalez had been perfect in his Colorado career, hitting on 51 consecutive tries. He made 18 of 29 field goal attempts in 2015, and was 3 of 4 before his injury.
The Oregon game saw the Buffs using two kickers. Freshman walk-on Davis Price from Evergreen handled the kickoff duties while junior Chris Graham from Burlingame, California replaced Gonzales on field goals.
Graham was the kickoff specialist in 2015, handling all but one of Colorado's 59 kickoffs. So game experience was nothing new to him. He made field goals of 24 and 33 yards in the game. He did, however, have one extra point blocked.
For Price, however, being on the field was a whole new experience. His first time taking the field for the Buffs was to kickoff in Autzen Stadium, one of the loudest venues in all of college football. How did he respond? He boomed it into the end zone for a touchback. It was the only touchback of the day for Price on six kicks, but it did serve to calm the freshman's nerves.
The kickers will be back in the altitude of Folsom Field this week, which should help their distance. They also will have another week of work in practice knowing that they will be handling the kicking duties for the rest of the year.
With a fierce Pac-12 schedule ahead of the Buffs, how Graham and Price handle their kicking duties will be a big part of how far this Buffaloes team goes toward their stated goal of winning the Pac-12 championship.
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