July 10, 2013
2013 Groza Award Watch List
West Palm Beach, Fla. - Continuing a banner preseason for San José football players, place kicker Austin Lopez has been named to the preseason watch lists for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award.
This is the second time this summer Lopez has been honored after being named to the 2013 College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) Special Teams Watch List on July 3.
LOPEZ RECOGNIZED AGAIN BY THE LOU GROZA AWARD
This is the second time that Lopez's name has appeared in conjunction with the Lou Groza Award. In 2012 he was a semifinalist for the award.
Lopez, a 2012 Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America, converted all 17 of his field goal tries and was one of two kickers to make 100 percent of his attempts last season. The other was the 2012 Lou Groza Award winner, Cairo Santos of Tulane who was 21-for-21.
As a freshman, Lopez set a San José State single-season kick scoring record in 2012 with 105 points and is the only Spartan freshman football player to eclipse the 100-point mark.
Lopez, a sophomore-to-be from Euless, Texas, is one of 11 semi-finalists from last year's list to be named to the 2013 watch list. Three of the 30 names on the list are kickers from Mountain West Conference schools. Utah State's Nick Diaz and Colorado State's Jared Roberts are the other MW kickers on the list.
GROZA AWARD FOR THE NATION'S TOP PLACE KICKER
In its 22nd year, the annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker 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.
The Palm Beach County Sport Commission sponsors the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award and this year's award winner will be announced December 12 on the Home Depot College Football Awards program broadcast live by ESPN.
SPARTANS KEEP RACKING UP NATIONAL RECOGNITION
With Lopez's inclusion on the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award watch lists, San José State football players have received inclusion on eight national preseason watch lists. Click on the links below to read about all the Spartans who have been recognized so far this summer.
College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) - Offensive Award Watch List
College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) - Defensive Award Watch List
College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) - Special Teams Award Watch List