Football: Pretorius Among Lou Groza Award “Stars of the Week” – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Pretorius scored on kicks of 28,31,26 and 51 yards in the Buckeyes lopsided 43-0 defeat of Youngstown State
College football’s top kicking award, the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award sponsored by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, each week recognizes the three top kickers from Division I schools who have made outstanding contributions during the past week.
The University of Utah, The University of Alabama and The Ohio State University will be represented in the Lou Groza Award “Stars of the Week” for the opening week of the 2008 college football season.
Utah Senior Louie Sakoda spoiled the debut of the Coach Rich Rodriguez era at Michigan by hitting field goals of 28, 43, 41 and 53 yards in the Utes 25 – 23 upset victory. Sakoda, a member of the Groza pre-season watch list was a semi-finalist for the award in 2007 and is a two time Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Year. He also handles the Utes punting chores and is a candidate for the Ray Guy Award for the best punter in the nation.
Senior Ryan Pretorius scored on kicks of 28, 31, 26 and 51 yards in the Buckeyes lopsided 43-0 defeat of Youngstown State. Pretorius 16 points in the game were second in the nation for the first week of the season. The 29 year old native of South Africa set a new personal best with the 51 yard kick. Pretorius is also on the pre – season watch list, was a Groza semi-finalist in 2007 and was a member of last season’s Big Ten Conference All Academic team.
Alabama Junior Leigh Tiffin also connected four times contributing to the Crimson Tide’s 34 – 10 victory at Clemson Saturday. Tiffin connected on kicks of 54, 21, 34 and 26 yards. He hit the longest field goal in Division 1A for the first week of the season. Tiffin, the son of former ‘Bama kicker Van Tiffin, famous for his 1985 kick to beat Aurburn, is known for his leg strength and has also earned a spot on the Lou Groza Award pre-season watch list.
The Lou Groza Collegiate Place Kicker Award presented by the Fed Ex Orange bowl will be announced on the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards aired on ESPN on Thursday December 11th. The three finalists will be honored at the Lou Groza Awards Banquet at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on Tuesday December 9th.
The award, is named for National Football League (NFL) Hall of Fame kicker Lou “the Toe” 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. Although an “All Pro” offensive lineman, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.
