Pretorius Named Semi-Finalists for 2007 Lou Groza Award – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
The Palm Beach County Sports Institute and Sports Commission are proud to announce the 20 semifinalists for the 2007 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl. These twenty place-kickers have all excelled throughout the season.
2005 Groza winner Alexis Serna of Oregon State has kicked his way onto the ballot for the third season. 2006 semifinalists back for consideration again are Florida State’s Gary Cismesia, Wisconsin’s Taylor Mehlhaff, and Wake Forest’s Sam Swank.
Through 10 weeks of the season, Ohio State’s Ryan Pretorius leads the nation in kick scoring with 91 points. Jose Martinez of UTEP has the longest field goal among our semi-finalists, 57 yards. Boise State’s Kyle Brotzman’s 44 of 44 PAT’s is best among our semi-finalists in that category.
And the 2007 Lou Groza Semifinalists are …
| Name | School | XPM | XPA | XP% | FGM | FGA | FG% | Long | Points |
| Connor Barth | North Carolina | 15 | 17 | 88.2 | 13 | 14 | 92.9 | 51 | 54 |
| Travis Bell | Georgia Tech | 23 | 23 | 100 | 18 | 21 | 85.7 | 51 | 77 |
| Michael Braunstein | Ohio University | 31 | 31 | 100 | 16 | 19 | 84.2 | 47 | 79 |
| Kyle Brotzman | Boise State | 44 | 44 | 100 | 11 | 12 | 91.7 | 47 | 77 |
| Gary Cismesia | Florida State | 21 | 22 | 95.5 | 19 | 25 | 76. | 45 | 78 |
| Jud Dunlevy | Virginia Tech | 27 | 28 | 96.4 | 13 | 15 | 86.7 | 52 | 66 |
| Matt Evensen | Oregon | 42 | 42 | 100 | 10 | 13 | 76.9 | 47 | 72 |
| Steven Hauschka | North Carolina State | 20 | 20 | 100 | 14 | 15 | 93.3 | 49 | 62 |
| Daniel Lincoln | Tennessee | 37 | 37 | 100 | 16 | 18 | 88.9 | 48 | 85 |
| Jose Martinez | UTEP | 38 | 38 | 100 | 12 | 14 | 85.7 | 57 | 74 |
| Pat McAfee | West Virginia | 40 | 41 | 97.6 | 9 | 10 | 90 | 49 | 67 |
| Taylor Mehlhaff | Wisconsin | 31 | 32 | 96.9 | 15 | 17 | 88.2 | 51 | 76 |
| Ryan Pretorius | Ohio State | 40 | 40 | 100 | 17 | 21 | 81 | 50 | 91 |
| Jason Reda | Illinois | 33 | 33 | 100 | 13 | 14 | 92.9 | 51 | 72 |
| Louie Sakoda | Utah | 23 | 24 | 95.8 | 15 | 17 | 88.2 | 51 | 68 |
| Alexis Serna | Oregon State | 21 | 21 | 100 | 11 | 15 | 73.3 | 52 | 54 |
| Austin Starr | Indiana | 38 | 38 | 100 | 17 | 18 | 94.4 | 49 | 89 |
| Sam Swank | Wake Forest | 31 | 31 | 100 | 14 | 17 | 82.4 | 52 | 73 |
| Swayze Waters | UAB | 13 | 14 | 92.9 | 19 | 24 | 79.2 | 52 | 70 |
| Thomas Weber | Arizona State | 34 | 35 | 97.1 | 18 | 19 | 94.7 | 50 | 88 |
The Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award recognizes the top place-kicker in NCAA Division I-A football. Voters for the award include Division I-A head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters, conference representatives, professional kickers, and previous Groza Award finalists.
The three finalists for the Lou Groza Award are announced on Monday, November 19 and will be honored at the 16th Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Banquet on Tuesday, December 4 at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott. The 2007 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award winner will be announced on Thursday, December 6 during the ESPN Home Depot College Football Award Show in Orlando, Florida.
The award, now in its 16th year, is named for NFL Hall-of-Fame kicker Lou Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Nicknamed “The Toe,” Groza was one of the first people to truly make kicking an art form, and he helped usher in to football the idea that a player could be used exclusively for kicking.
For more information on the 20 semifinalists, please visit http://www.lougrozaaward.com/Candidates/index.htm
The Lou Groza Award is presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl and is also sponsored by The Breakers, Bus One, LLC, Continental Airlines, Discretion Entertainment LLC, Enterprise rent-a-car, ESPN Radio 760, ESPN Regional Television, Hartless Foundation, JBS Destination Solutions, McGladrey & Pullen LLP, Palm Beach Kennel Club, The Palm Beach Post, Parallax Productions, Romano Law Group, Rooney’s Public House, The Tux Shop, and WPEC News 12.
