College football’s top kicking award, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award presented by the Orange Bowl, recognizes top kickers each week from FBS division teams as the “Stars of the Week.”
Despite a record night by two-time Lou Groza Award semifinalist Harrison Mevis, Missouri came up short as top-ranked Georgia rallied to defeat the Tigers 26-22 in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday. The junior from Warsaw, Ind. tied the school record with five field goals in a game by scoring from 56, 52, 49, 41 and 22 yards out. He is one of four Mizzou kickers with a 5-FG game and now becomes the only one to ever accomplish it twice. He’s also the first to ever make four field goals of 40+ yards in a game and is now 3-for-4 this season over 50 yards. He converted his only PAT try for a 16-point game, most in the FBS this week.
Jack Podlesny scored all of Georgia’s points in the first three quarters, keeping the Bulldogs close enough to rally from behind to win 26-22 in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday. The senior from St. Simons Island, Ga. connected from 40, 34, 29 and 28 yards for his second 4-FG game of the season. He added two extra points for a 14-point game. His 58 points lead all Bulldogs in scoring, are tops among FBS kickers, and rank him second among all players in the country. With just one miss this season from 54 yards, Podlesny is 12-for-13 on field goals, giving him both the second-most makes and the second-best percentage among kickers with double-digit attempts.
Gavin Stewart hadn’t kicked a field goal since 2020, but he made his first four attempts of this season in Georgia Tech’s 26-20 upset of Pitt on the road in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Saturday. The sophomore from Savannah, Ga. scored the Yellow Jackets’ first 12 points, the team’s only scoring until midway through the 4th quarter, to set interim head coach Brent Key up for a victory in his first game at the helm. The makes from 40, 37, 33 and 30 yards mark the first time Georgia Tech had a 4-FG game since 2016. He converted both extra point attempts for a 14-point game, the biggest of his career.
The Award is named for National Football League 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 as well, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.
