College football’s top kicking award, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award presented by the Orange Bowl, recognizes three of the top kickers each week from FBS division teams as the “Stars of the Week.”
John Hoyland tied a career-best with a 4-for-4 field goal performance in Wyoming’s 35-26 win over New Mexico. The Cowboys won their Mountain West opener thanks in large part to the junior, who made a pair of 38-yard kicks to go with connections from 34 and 26 yards out. The Broomfield, Colo. native also made all three PAT attempts for a 15-point game. The 2022 Groza semifinalist is now 8-for-8 on field goals this year and is the only FBS kicker still perfect while having multiple attempts from over 50 yards.
The only kicker with double-digit field goal attempts who has yet to miss is Alabama’s Will Reichard, who added four more to his tally in the Crimson Tide’s 40-17 road romp over Mississippi State. The graduate senior from Hoover, Ala. is now 11-for-11 on the year after connecting from 34, 38 and twice from 48 yards out. A finalist for the Groza Award in 2020, Reichard added four extra points for a 16-point game, the most by a kicker this week. That pushes his career total to 474 points, moving him into the top five among kickers in FBS history.
Drew Stevens was crucial to Iowa’s 26-16 win over Michigan State, with three of his four field goals coming in the second half to turn a six-point deficit into a victory. The sophomore from North Augusta, S.C. kicked his longest field goal of the season, a 53 yarder, to go with makes from 40, 36 and 34 yards out. With two PATs as well, his 14-point game accounted for more than half of Iowa’s scoring. A semifinalist for the Groza Award last year as a freshman, Stevens is off to an 8-for-9 start this season.
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.
