Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Gonzalez Hopes He’s As Busy All Season As Opening Night
September 06, 2016 | Football, B.G. Brooks
Senior hit three FGs, five PATs, and had eight-of-nine touchbacks
BOULDER – A year ago, August camp found Diego Gonzalez in the final stages of recuperation from a sports hernia. He described his physical condition as something like not quite 100 percent, but slowly closing in on total wellness.
Close counts only in . . . you know. And close to being fully recovered last summer from a sports hernia wasn't nearly good enough for the range of leg and lower body movement required of a placekicker who aspires to be his team's foot for all occasions.
A year later, Gonzalez's sports hernia is a distant, dark memory and he's swinging his left foot at every opportunity the Colorado Buffaloes offer him. And 2016's opening night offered plenty of them.
With only a hint of worry about a possible fatigue factor, Gonzalez told me last month he hoped to kick off this season as well as handle the placement (field goals, PATs) duties. When CU lined up against Colorado State last Friday, Gonzalez was in the role he had hoped/worked for – and if there was no leg fatigue at this night's end there likely won't be.
"All" he did was go three-for-three on field goals (30, 29, 22 yards), hit all five of his extra point attempts, and send eight of his nine kickoffs beyond touchback territory – or out of the end zone. CSU's only kickoff return was a 35-yarder by Dalyn Dawkins, and it's average starting field position was at its own 28-yard line.
As a statistical bonus, on the Rams' lone KO return, Gonzalez made the tackle, which reaffirmed to head coach Mike MacIntyre that those tackling drills the kicking specialists participate in during practice do indeed have benefit. Now, MacIntyre quipped Tuesday, he knows Gonzalez can do more than bring down dummies.
That's always good to know, but it's not the first thing a head coach wants to know about his placekicker. That would be where his kicker's head is, and Matt Thompson – CU's director of quality control/special teams who works with Gonzalez on a daily basis – says the Buffs' senior is dialed in and as fit mentally as he is physically.
BEFORE FRIDAY NIGHT'S SEASON-OPENER, Thompson, who is in his first year in his current role, said, "Some of the coaches asked me, 'Are you nervous?' I said, 'No, I'm not nervous, I know what Diego's going to do.' His mental state is always good, level. He's never too high, never too low. He's confident in what he does, and as long as he's confident we'll be in good shape this year."
Of Gonzalez's Friday night performance, Thompson said, "I expect that out of Diego, to be honest . . . I think he's one of the better kickers in the nation, I think he can compete for the Lou Groza (Award) this year. He's just got to do it day in and day out."
In a kicker's world, a good kicker's world, there's scarcely much difference in the reaction to hits and misses. Hit a field goal and move on, miss a field goal and move on. Never punch the rewind button.
"Last game didn't happen, we're on to the next one," Thompson said. "With kickers, you make one field goal, it doesn't matter. You're on to your next one. You miss it, it doesn't matter. You're on to the next one. You always forget, try to fix it, go to the next one."
Gonzalez, who made all 35 of his PAT attempts last season but was 18-of-29 on field goals, has bought in to that. In fact, he embraced that thought a year ago against CSU, badly missing a field goal attempt at the end of regulation that would have won the game, then hitting the game-winner in overtime.
Friday night's game never got that close, and what Gonzalez showed his family this time was his ability to handle all of the Buffs' kicking and not appear shaky in the least.
"There's always room for improvement but I was pretty happy," he said. "I felt really comfortable (kicking off). Last year I was struggling, coming out of a sports hernia, and knew I wasn't 100 percent but thought I was pretty close. Since I had a lot of time away from kickoffs because of the sports hernia my timing was a little off (in 2015 preseason camp). But I've been working on that during this summer."
Plus, said Thompson, there were mechanical tweaks in how Gonzalez approached the ball in kicking off.
"We changed a few things with his body position, so when comes in he's a little more controlled, he's not falling over like he used to," Thompson said. "He's able to stay behind the ball a little better. And, I think his confidence and his mentality compared to last season are way better.
"He came in knowing he could be one of the best kickers in the nation, and I feed that to him all the time, instill that confidence in him. That's what he should have – the confidence of one of the best kickers in the nation because that's what he is."
The Buffs play host to Idaho State on Saturday in their home opener (3:30 p.m., Folsom Field) and that game has Gonzalez's full focus. Still, in his grand scheme, a future in the NFL is very appealing – and Thompson has laid out what he believes Gonzalez must do to draw a look from the next level.
THAT CRITERIA INCLUDES HITTING at least 85 percent of his field goals (he's at 100 percent this season) and putting 85-90 percent of his kickoffs out of the end zone (he's eight-of-nine in that department). And Gonzalez's touchback stats in the 2016 opener are all the more impressive considering all of last season the Buffs had 17 touchbacks.
MacIntyre said knowing your kicker is likely to consistently produce touchbacks is comforting, but added that Gonzalez is also "able to control it and keep (the ball) in the air so we can cover our lanes correctly. He doesn't spray it around everywhere which hurts you sometimes on kickoff coverage.
"He's improved, because he's kept working at it . . . he's done an excellent job; he's a weapon. He's always had a super strong leg. People have seen it a couple times. Now they're starting to see what we see."
Gonzalez isn't concerned that by November his multiple kicking duty will result in a "dead leg," and Thompson is even less concerned.
Said Thompson: "With Diego, he always has gas left in the tank. If he's tired – and we've discussed it – if his leg's tired there are ways to keep that distance. With Diego I'm not worried about his leg getting tired because he has gas in reserve."
Gonzalez admitted that his left leg "was a little sore" Saturday, but added, "It was nothing bad. I'm ready for kickoffs and everything else this week."
When Gonzalez came to CU in 2013, he had heard of former Buffs kicker Mason Crosby but had never met him. That opportunity arose this summer when Crosby dropped in on a player run practice (PRP) and offered Gonzalez and the kickers some advice.
"Really nice guy," Gonzalez said. "He helped us a lot with tips and technique . . . he should be the standard here and I think he's one of the best kickers in the (NFL) right now. It's no surprise to me that he had a great career here."
Crosby, now kicking for the Packers, set 31 CU records, left as the Buffs' career scoring leader (308 points) and was a two-time consensus All-America choice. With his phenomenal leg strength, he was also CU's touchback king, with 138 of his 203 career kickoffs sailing out of the end zone.
But as close as Crosby got to winning the Groza Award was finishing as the 2006 runner-up. While Thompson's belief that Gonzalez can win the award is humbling, it's also an incentive that has Gonzalez's attention.
"With Chris Graham and the other guys here – they're really good kickers and competition is always good – so you have to be one of the best," he said. "So, yeah, I do feel I can be one of the best in the nation."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Close counts only in . . . you know. And close to being fully recovered last summer from a sports hernia wasn't nearly good enough for the range of leg and lower body movement required of a placekicker who aspires to be his team's foot for all occasions.
A year later, Gonzalez's sports hernia is a distant, dark memory and he's swinging his left foot at every opportunity the Colorado Buffaloes offer him. And 2016's opening night offered plenty of them.
With only a hint of worry about a possible fatigue factor, Gonzalez told me last month he hoped to kick off this season as well as handle the placement (field goals, PATs) duties. When CU lined up against Colorado State last Friday, Gonzalez was in the role he had hoped/worked for – and if there was no leg fatigue at this night's end there likely won't be.
"All" he did was go three-for-three on field goals (30, 29, 22 yards), hit all five of his extra point attempts, and send eight of his nine kickoffs beyond touchback territory – or out of the end zone. CSU's only kickoff return was a 35-yarder by Dalyn Dawkins, and it's average starting field position was at its own 28-yard line.
As a statistical bonus, on the Rams' lone KO return, Gonzalez made the tackle, which reaffirmed to head coach Mike MacIntyre that those tackling drills the kicking specialists participate in during practice do indeed have benefit. Now, MacIntyre quipped Tuesday, he knows Gonzalez can do more than bring down dummies.
That's always good to know, but it's not the first thing a head coach wants to know about his placekicker. That would be where his kicker's head is, and Matt Thompson – CU's director of quality control/special teams who works with Gonzalez on a daily basis – says the Buffs' senior is dialed in and as fit mentally as he is physically.
BEFORE FRIDAY NIGHT'S SEASON-OPENER, Thompson, who is in his first year in his current role, said, "Some of the coaches asked me, 'Are you nervous?' I said, 'No, I'm not nervous, I know what Diego's going to do.' His mental state is always good, level. He's never too high, never too low. He's confident in what he does, and as long as he's confident we'll be in good shape this year."
Of Gonzalez's Friday night performance, Thompson said, "I expect that out of Diego, to be honest . . . I think he's one of the better kickers in the nation, I think he can compete for the Lou Groza (Award) this year. He's just got to do it day in and day out."
In a kicker's world, a good kicker's world, there's scarcely much difference in the reaction to hits and misses. Hit a field goal and move on, miss a field goal and move on. Never punch the rewind button.
"Last game didn't happen, we're on to the next one," Thompson said. "With kickers, you make one field goal, it doesn't matter. You're on to your next one. You miss it, it doesn't matter. You're on to the next one. You always forget, try to fix it, go to the next one."
Gonzalez, who made all 35 of his PAT attempts last season but was 18-of-29 on field goals, has bought in to that. In fact, he embraced that thought a year ago against CSU, badly missing a field goal attempt at the end of regulation that would have won the game, then hitting the game-winner in overtime.
Friday night's game never got that close, and what Gonzalez showed his family this time was his ability to handle all of the Buffs' kicking and not appear shaky in the least.
"There's always room for improvement but I was pretty happy," he said. "I felt really comfortable (kicking off). Last year I was struggling, coming out of a sports hernia, and knew I wasn't 100 percent but thought I was pretty close. Since I had a lot of time away from kickoffs because of the sports hernia my timing was a little off (in 2015 preseason camp). But I've been working on that during this summer."
Plus, said Thompson, there were mechanical tweaks in how Gonzalez approached the ball in kicking off.
"We changed a few things with his body position, so when comes in he's a little more controlled, he's not falling over like he used to," Thompson said. "He's able to stay behind the ball a little better. And, I think his confidence and his mentality compared to last season are way better.
"He came in knowing he could be one of the best kickers in the nation, and I feed that to him all the time, instill that confidence in him. That's what he should have – the confidence of one of the best kickers in the nation because that's what he is."
The Buffs play host to Idaho State on Saturday in their home opener (3:30 p.m., Folsom Field) and that game has Gonzalez's full focus. Still, in his grand scheme, a future in the NFL is very appealing – and Thompson has laid out what he believes Gonzalez must do to draw a look from the next level.
THAT CRITERIA INCLUDES HITTING at least 85 percent of his field goals (he's at 100 percent this season) and putting 85-90 percent of his kickoffs out of the end zone (he's eight-of-nine in that department). And Gonzalez's touchback stats in the 2016 opener are all the more impressive considering all of last season the Buffs had 17 touchbacks.
MacIntyre said knowing your kicker is likely to consistently produce touchbacks is comforting, but added that Gonzalez is also "able to control it and keep (the ball) in the air so we can cover our lanes correctly. He doesn't spray it around everywhere which hurts you sometimes on kickoff coverage.
"He's improved, because he's kept working at it . . . he's done an excellent job; he's a weapon. He's always had a super strong leg. People have seen it a couple times. Now they're starting to see what we see."
Gonzalez isn't concerned that by November his multiple kicking duty will result in a "dead leg," and Thompson is even less concerned.
Said Thompson: "With Diego, he always has gas left in the tank. If he's tired – and we've discussed it – if his leg's tired there are ways to keep that distance. With Diego I'm not worried about his leg getting tired because he has gas in reserve."
Gonzalez admitted that his left leg "was a little sore" Saturday, but added, "It was nothing bad. I'm ready for kickoffs and everything else this week."
When Gonzalez came to CU in 2013, he had heard of former Buffs kicker Mason Crosby but had never met him. That opportunity arose this summer when Crosby dropped in on a player run practice (PRP) and offered Gonzalez and the kickers some advice.
"Really nice guy," Gonzalez said. "He helped us a lot with tips and technique . . . he should be the standard here and I think he's one of the best kickers in the (NFL) right now. It's no surprise to me that he had a great career here."
Crosby, now kicking for the Packers, set 31 CU records, left as the Buffs' career scoring leader (308 points) and was a two-time consensus All-America choice. With his phenomenal leg strength, he was also CU's touchback king, with 138 of his 203 career kickoffs sailing out of the end zone.
But as close as Crosby got to winning the Groza Award was finishing as the 2006 runner-up. While Thompson's belief that Gonzalez can win the award is humbling, it's also an incentive that has Gonzalez's attention.
"With Chris Graham and the other guys here – they're really good kickers and competition is always good – so you have to be one of the best," he said. "So, yeah, I do feel I can be one of the best in the nation."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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