Kicker Stefanou Hitting Game-Winning Groove For Buffs
September 26, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — It is one of the more pressure-packed situations in sports: the game-winning field goal.
In his third season at Colorado, James Stefanou has finally gotten the opportunity to attempt such a kick — and so far, he's 2-for-2 in those situations, with both kicks coming against nationally ranked teams.
On Sept. 7, it was a 34-yarder against Nebraska in overtime that ultimately provided Colorado with the 34-31 win over the No. 25 Cornhuskers. Last weekend, it was a 44-yarder at Arizona State with just more than two minutes to play that lifted the Buffs to another 34-31 victory over No. 24 ASU.
They were exactly the kind of situations Stefanou was waiting for. While the CU junior is currently the most-accurate field goal kicker in CU history, he had yet to provide the winning margin with a kick in his three years in Boulder.Â
The overtime kick against the Huskers was particularly satisfying, as he missed two fourth-quarter attempts last year in Lincoln in a game the Buffs still came back to win, 33-28.
"If you're a kicker and you don't love the pressure, there's something wrong," Stefanou said after Thursday's practice. "It's good to get out there and after last year, missing those couple at Nebraska — which we've talked about enough — it's been good to sort of get that monkey off the back and knock them through."
Last year was a difficult season for Stefanou, as he battled through injury for much of the year and ended up playing in just eight games and attempting just eight field goals (5-for-8).
But after an excellent offseason strength and conditioning program, the 32-year-old entered this season as healthy as he has been, and is thus far 6-for-6 on field goal tries and 17-for-18 on PATs.
(Stefanou is currently the second-oldest active player in the NCAA's FBS division.)
"It's hard to understand how difficult it was last year," Stefanou said. "It was kicking through pain and you can't kick the ball as smoothly as you want to kick it if you have to keep kicking through pain."
One major development for Stefanou has been earning the trust of CU's new coaching staff. CU head coach Mel Tucker does not require Stefanou to kick every day.
"Not that the last coaches didn't, but these new coaches have come in and they believe in me," Stefanou said. "They believe in this whole team and it just filters through everyone. They have been awesome about (days with minimal kicking). They ask me every day, 'Do you want to kick or not?' At the same time, if we need to get reps in, we get reps in."
It is also a lesson Stefanou — a former professional soccer player in Australia — had to learn the hard way. When he first arrived in Boulder from his home country, he kicked non-stop throughout fall camp and through the season. Then, when he suffered a minor muscle strain, he only exacerbated the problem by trying to "kick through it."
Now, he stays sharp and continues to hone his technique, but he does not over-work his leg.
"I don't kick as much," he said. "I don't warm up as much, I don't stay after practice and keep kicking. You can get into a false sense of belief that working harder is always working more, and kicking more and not stopping. But sometimes it's harder to actually stop and say, 'No, this is the better thing for me right now. Everything was good, reps are good, let's let's call it a day.'"
Stefanou has hit 28 of his 38 career field goal attempts, a .778 percentage that currently makes him the most-accurate kicker in CU history, ahead of Mason Crosby and Jeremy Aldrich (.750). He also hit 78 consecutive PATs to begin his career — the most in CU history to start a career — before blocked try against Air Force ended the string.
Stefanou has also added kickoffs to his list of duties this year. Of his 21 kickoffs this year, only two have been returned.
"I love kicking off, it gets me in the game," he said. "It's fun to run down there with the boys."
And, after last weekend's game at Sun Devil Stadium, he freely admits it is a stadium he has learned to love, even though it is much lower altitude than Boulder. Along with his game-winner this year, he also had a career-long 53-yarder there in 2017.
"I love that place," he said with a laugh. "Everything's just pristine. I love the crowd yelling at you and offering me beer on the sidelines as well. That makes me relax a little bit."
PRACTICE REPORT: The Buffs were back in helmets and shorts Thursday morning, but still had a brisk, up-tempo workout, their third of the bye week. They will take Friday through Sunday off, then begin preparation next Monday for their Oct. 5 home game with Arizona (2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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