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.”
SMU couldn’t top BYU on Friday night, but Collin Rogers came close all on his own, kicking 5 field goals to score every Mustang point in an 18-15 loss. The junior from Prattville, Ala. set a program record with his 5-for-5 performance, and he did it largely from long distance, starting with a career-long 53-yard field goal. He followed that up with a make from 52 yards to become just the second kicker in SMU history with multiple makes from 50+ in one game. Add in field goals from 45, 38 and 28 yards and Rogers kept the Mustangs in it until the very end.
Ben Sauls completed Pitt’s biggest comeback since 1971, kicking a 35-yard field goal with 17 seconds left to lift the Panthers to a 28-27 win over Cincinnati. Until the final minute of the third quarter, the senior from Tipp City, Ohio had scored Pitt’s only points with field goals from 53 and 47 yards, leaving the Panthers down 27-6 and needing a frantic comeback to set up his game-winning kick in the final seconds. Sauls is one of only four FBS kickers without a miss on at least 5 attempts, and one of five kickers with multiple long-distance field goals already.
The kick came from only 35 yards out, but Kanon Woodill made arguably the biggest field goal in Northern Illinois history, sending the Huskies to a 16-14 victory on the road over Notre Dame. The win marked the program’s first over an opponent ranked in the top 10, and the first time a MAC school has ever beaten a top-5 team. The senior from Plainfield, Ill. had already connected from 42 and 21 yards out before his game-winning kick with just 31 seconds left.
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.
