West Palm Beach, Fla.----- San Jose State University sophomore Matt Mercurio is one of 30 football players named to the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Watch List. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission made the announcement.
The award honors the top placekicker in college football and is named after National Football League Hall of Fame kicker Lou "The Toe" Groza, who played 21 seasons for the Cleveland Browns.
As a redshirt freshman in 2019, Mercurio won the vacant placekicking job and came through with one of the best seasons by a San Jose State University kicker. The Salinas, Calif., product who joined the Spartans from Palma High in 2018, converted 20-of-24 field goal attempts and 37-of-39 extra-point tries in 2019.
During a six-game span, Mercurio converted 16 consecutive field goals. Three times, he tied the single-game school record of four field goals in a game. Mercurio had a season-long 49-yard field goal in the New Mexico game, one of the three games in which he kicked four field goals, and was 15-of-15 converting field goals of 40 yards or less.
He led the team in scoring with 97 points, #3 on the Spartans' single-season kick scoring list, and was 34th nationally in scoring among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players. Mercurio was a two-time Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week and a Lou Groza Star of the Week for kicking four field goals in the New Mexico and Army West Point victories. Mercurio was one of six placekickers last year to receive two Lou Groza Stars of the Week honors a year ago.
His 83.3 percentage field goal conversion rate (20-of-24) ranked tied for 27th nationally. Mercurio was named a Mountain West honorable mention all-conference kicker at the end of the regular season.
During the season, the Palm Beach Commission will name its "Stars of the Week" through games played on Saturday, October 31. Twenty (20) semifinalists will be named on November 5. Three finalists will be announced on November 24. Three finalists will be announced December 7 at an awards banquet in Palm Beach County. The 2020 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award will be presented on Thursday, December 10 during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN.