Orange County’s Davenport Is Cashing In as Wisconsin’s Kicker

The last place Wisconsin kicker Matt Davenport expected to be when he received the big news was in his speech class.

Davenport, who attended Capistrano Valley Christian High and Saddleback College before transferring to Wisconsin in 1996, had a big season for the Badgers. He led the Big 10 in field-goal percentage (.824) and was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award as college football’s best kicker.

He thought he had a good chance of making the All-Big Ten first team. His kicking elped Wisconsin to an 8-4 record and a meeting today with Georgia (9-2) in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.

Not bad for someone who went from a walk-on in 1996 to a scholarship player in ’97.

But no one told him anything about the conference award until Dec. 1, when a classmate, reading the school newspaper, got Davenport’s attention.

“He told me, ‘Congratulations,’ ” Davenport said. “I said, ‘For what?’ And he showed me the story.

“I had to go above and beyond to show [the Badgers] I was a good kicker. I came from a great program at Saddleback, but they weren’t sure I could fill in. So I had to prove myself.”

Davenport, a junior, did exactly that in 1997. He won games with last-minute field goals against Indiana and Northwestern. He had two field goals in the 13-10 victory against Iowa (12th ranked at the time), giving the Badgers their first victory over the Hawkeyes since 1976.

Of course when your nickname is “Money,” failure is hardly an option. Davenport, 20, is a bit sheepish when it comes to explaining the nickname.

“Before the Syracuse opener, I did an interview and told the guy I felt confident from certain distances--that I was ‘money’ from 45 yards in,” Davenport said. “After I said it, I worried that it would come out the wrong way. But it was a small paper and I didn’t think anybody else would hear about it.”

Davenport found out how wrong he was when he saw the quote being repeated on ESPN.

“It was one story, but it soon blew up,” he said.

But Davenport proved to be a man of his word. In 12 games he was successful on 14 of 17 field-goal attempts, and 31 of 32 extra-point attempts. His total of 73 points was second on the team to running back Ron Dayne, who had 90.

Wisconsin assistant Jay Hayes has worked with some talented kickers in his 10 years as a coach, including Craig Hentrich--who now punts for Green Bay--and Jim Hall, who preceded Davenport at Wisconsin and was a New York Jet rookie this season.

Hayes said Davenport doesn’t have the strongest leg he has seen, but is mentally tough and very accurate.

“The biggest thing about Matt is he has always been consistent,” said Hayes, who kicked in the United States Football League after his college days at Idaho. “Even last year he very rarely missed, as long as he was within his range, about [45 yards and in]. He’s pretty calm, and has been able to go into pressure situations being relaxed.

“When he first got here, his first kicks just barely got over the crossbar and we kind of wondered what we had. But when we let him kick in pressure situations in practice, he always made them, no matter how ugly they looked. And now they all look pretty good.”

So was Davenport a important offensive weapon for Wisconsin?

“Let’s put it this way,” Hayes said. “We’re 8-4, and we’ve scored only 12 more points than our opponents. He has been a very key weapon.”

Davenport’s season is no surprise to Saddleback Coach Bill Cunerty. Davenport played on Cunerty’s 1995 team that won the Mission Conference Central Division championship.

“He’s very quiet, reserved,” Cunerty said. “But put him in a pressure situation and he ate it up.”

Davenport agrees.

“I’ve always felt my mind was my strong point in kicking,” he said. “Kickers with a good leg are a dime a dozen; what separates the good ones from the bad ones is being able to concentrate and focus. To be mentally sharp and block out the crowd.

“When you’re on the field and concentrating, once the ball is snapped it seems like a second of complete silence. I don’t hear anything, but when I look up [to see the kick] that’s when I hear things again.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Outback Bowl

* Teams: Wisconsin vs. Georgia

* When: 8 a.m. today

* Where: Tampa, Fla.

* Records: Wisconsin 8-4; Georgia 9-2

* TV: ESPN

* Orange County connections: Wisconsin--Dave Cruickshank (Dana Hills/Saddleback College), Sr., DL; Matt Davenport (Capistrano Valley Christian/Saddleback College), Jr., K. Georgia--none.