Georgia Tech kicker Shawn Davis likely will not play again this season because of a leg injury suffered Saturday in the Miami game.
Coach Paul Johnson said that Davis “probably” is out for the season after he was injured trying to make a tackle on a kickoff in the third quarter against the Hurricanes.
It’s believed to be a tear of his ACL. On the play, Davis was getting in position to tackle Miami returner Jeff Thomas when it appeared that his right knee buckled.
“It’s disappointing for him,” Johnson said. “I think he worked hard and fought through some adversity. It was a non-contact thing. It was just one of those things. It was the field. He slipped on it, and it wasn’t good.”
Davis, a sophomore, won the job after a duel with freshman Brenton King that extended into the season. After missing two field-goal tries in the season opener to Tennessee, he had evened out, making both of his field-goal tries and recording touchbacks on about a third of his kickoffs.
Davis will be replaced by King. King made one field goal in the Miami game and sent a kickoff to the goal line. He got his first action against North Carolina in the previous game, with a field goal from 25 yards, an extra point and two kickoffs. King competed with Davis in the preseason for the starting job, but was hampered by a groin injury.
“I think he’s healthy, and he’s been in competition, and he’s made ’em. He’s been good,” Johnson said. “He went there the other day cold and went out there – I know it was a short field goal – but he made it.”
Johnson said he was comfortable with field-goal attempts out to about 40 yards.
“It’s not leg strength,” he said. “They all can make them from 50 yards once in a while. But it’s just the percentage of it. And so you have to factor all that in.”
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