Toledo’s Jeremiah Detmer, Bowling Green’s Tyler Tate and Ohio’s Josiah Yazdani named to Lou Groza Award Watch List
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. –Three MAC kickers were named to the Watch List for the 2014 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, as announced by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. Toledo senior Jeremiah Detmer, Bowling Green junior Tyler Tate and Ohio junior Josiah Yazdani were named to the 2014 Lou Groza Award Watch List.
Detmer was named the MAC Special Teams Player of the Year last season as he converted 95% of his field goal attempts. On the year, Detmer converted 19 of 20 field goal attempts and 44 of 45 PATs for 101 total points. Detmer’s 19 fields goals tied for most in the MAC last season.
Tate converted 18 of 22 field goal attempts and 59 of 61 PATs for 113 points and was part of the Falcons 2013 Marathon MAC Football Championship team that finished with a 10-4 overall record. Tate’s 113 points ranked second in the Conference last season.
Yazdani nailed 14 of 15 field goal attempts and all 30 PAT conversions for 72 points in his first season of handling the field goal and PAT duties for the Bobcats. Yazdani’s 14 field goals ranked sixth in the MAC during the 2013 season.
On the 2014 Lou Groza Award Watch List, 13 kickers return to FBS coming off seasons in which they connected on double-digit field goals at a rate better than 85%, and all 13 were named to the watch list: Florida State sophomore Roberto Aguayo (95.5%), Toledo senior Jeremiah Detmer (95%), Michigan State sophomore Michael Geiger (93.8%), Ohio junior Josiah Yazdani (93.3%), LSU sophomore Colby Delahoussaye (92.9%), Georgia junior Marshall Morgan (91.7%), Central Florida senior Shawn Moffitt (91.3%), Boise State senior Dan Goodale (89.5%), Oklahoma senior Michael Hunnicutt (88.9%), Memphis sophomore Jake Elliott (88.9%), Colorado State senior Jared Roberts (87.5%), Texas Tech senior Ryan Bustin (85.2%), and Utah sophomore Andy Phillips (85%).
Moving from accuracy to volume, all 11 returning kickers who converted at least 20 field goals are also part of the Watch List: Arizona State sophomore Zane Gonzalez (25), Hunnicutt (24), Bustin (23), San Jose State junior Austin Lopez (22), Morgan (22), Aguayo (21), Maryland junior Brad Craddock (21), Moffitt (21), Roberts (21), Notre Dame senior Kyle Brindza (20), and Louisville junior John Wallace (20).
Kickers on the Lou Groza Award Watch List were chosen based on statistics from the 2013 season and 2014 expectations. All ten FBS conferences are represented among the 30 kickers, led by four each from the American, Big 12, Mountain West, and Pac-12. The ACC, MAC and SEC each placed three kickers, followed by a pair from the Big Ten. Conference USA and the Sun Belt each placed one kicker, along with independent Notre Dame.
Accomplishments are tabulated throughout the season and the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award will announce its 20 semifinalists on Thursday, November 6
th. From this list, a panel of more than 300 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, and former Groza finalists selects the top three finalists for the award by Monday, November 24
th. That same group then selects the national winner, who will be announced on Thursday, December 11
th during the Home Depot College Football Awards, broadcast live from Orlando, Fla.
The 23
rd Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, presented by the Orange Bowl Committee, recognizes the three finalists during an early week celebration in Palm Beach County, culminating with a gala awards banquet on December 9
th, prior to joining ESPN in Orlando.
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.
