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.”
For the second year in a row, Jackson Courville knocked off Northern Illinois with a last-second field goal, this time from a career-long 52 yards out to put Ball State on top 25-23. The sophomore from Dayton, Ohio did the trick last season from 36 yards out. This time around, the winner was his fourth field goal of the game, having connected from 47, 24 and what was for just a few minutes a new career-long of 50 yards earlier in the fourth quarter. Injuries have kept Courville on the sidelines most of the season, with this being just the second game in which he’s made field goals. But in those two, he has seven makes, looming all the larger with both games finishing as 2-point victories for Ball State.
Dom Dzioban matched the program record with five field goals in Miami University’s 46-7 win over Central Michigan. The junior from Frankfort, Ill. connected from a career-long 51 yards as well as from 44, 31, 23 and 22 to become the first RedHawk kicker with five makes in a game since 2008. The victory also gave head coach Chuck Martin his 60th win at Miami, the most in program history. The 5-for-5 performance moves Dzioban to 16-for-18 on the year, part of a three-way tie for third place nationally in makes, a group that also ties for the FBS lead in field goal percentage by kickers with at least 15 attempts.
In just his second game since taking over as Cal’s starting kicker, Derek Morris matched the program record with a 5-for-5 performance in the Golden Bears’ 44-7 win over Oregon State. The true freshman from Franklin, Ohio was true himself, connecting on his attempts from 46, 38, 33, 25 and 19 yards out. He joins two other Bears kickers with five makes in a game, most recently in 2022. It’s a strong bounce back from the freshman, shaking off a late miss in a one-point loss last week to account for 18 points this time, matching the program’s all-time high for kick-scoring in a game.
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.
