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.”
Five field goals from Caden Davis helped Ole Miss to the program’s first top-five victory since 2015 with a 28-10 win over Georgia. The senior from Coppell, Texas connected from 53, 43, 32, 24 and 23 yards out to become the first Rebel kicker since 2018 with five makes in a game. He added one PAT for a 16-point game, the highest in FBS by a kicker this week. The five field goals increase his season total to 20, moving him into a tie for the FBS lead. He’s also now the first FBS kicker to triple digits in scoring, with 107 points on the year.
BYU stayed undefeated when Will Ferrin completed a 12-point second-half comeback to go up 22-21 on Utah with just three seconds remaining. The 44-yard game-winner was the third field goal of the game for Ferrin, his second consecutive such performance. The junior from Kaysville, Utah was also good from 23 yards to start the game’s scoring and from 33 yards to spark the comeback. At 17-for-20 on the season, he’s tied for 7th among FBS kickers in made field goals and tops in the Big 12. With 85 points, he’s also the conference’s leading kick-scorer and tied for sixth in FBS.
Still just nine games into his career, Max Gilbert set a number of new career highs in Tennessee’s 33-14 homecoming night win over Mississippi State. The freshman from Memphis, Tenn. put together his first 4-for-4 performance, connecting 51, 24 and twice from 38 yards out. The 51 yarder also marked his first long-distance field goal, and in fact the program’s first since 2022. With three PATs, he ended up with 15 points, one aspect of his game that’s actually becoming quite routine; he’s scored 15 in three games this season, helping to an 86-point total that ranks fifth in the nation.
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.
For more information on the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award and to see the “Stars of the Week” throughout the season, please go to www.lougrozaaward.com. For even more updates on the best kicking performances throughout the season, follow @LouGrozaAward on Twitter.
