Football: Kopka to Play in Gridiron Classic on Saturday
1/12/2001 7:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 12, 2001
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland senior placekicker Brian Kopka (Hollywood, Fla.) returns to his home state of Florida this weekend to play in the Rotary Gridiron Classic. The all-star game will be played Saturday, January 13, in Orlando's Citrus Bowl.
Kopka is one of five Terrapin football players to play in an all-star bowl game this year. Seniors Kris Jenkins and LaMont Jordan will be playing in the Senior Bowl while Shawn Forte and Matt Kalapinski will be participating in the Hula Bowl (the Senior and Hula Bowls both take place on Saturday, January 20). Jenkins has also already played in the Blue/Gray All-Star Classic.
The following is an updated biography on Brian Kopka:
Brian Kopka
Placekicker
Hollywood, Fla. (Hollywood Hills)
5-7, 174, 4V
Four-year starter who ended his career with 218 career points, fifth on Maryland's all-time scoring chart (third all-time among kickers) ... was 42 of 61 (.688) for his career on field goal attempts and 92 of 97 (.948) for his career on PAT tries ... made three field goals in a game four times during his career ... his 42 career field goals ranks third on Maryland's all-time list, behind only Jess Atkinson (60, 1981-84) and Dan Plocki (47, 1985-88) ... his 92 PATs ranks tied for second on Maryland's all-time list, behind only Jess Atkinson (128, 1984-84).
2000: Finished his senior season as the Terps' second-leading scorer, totaling 50 points ... connected on 8 of 12 field goal attempts, including his career long of 49 yards in a come-from-behind win over Duke ... also made a 47-yarder vs. Wake Forest ... was 26 of 28 on PAT attempts ... 16 of his 50 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks ... selected to play in the third annual Rotary Gridiron Classic postseason all-star game ... shared the Terps' Top Special Teams performer award with punter Brooks Barnard ... entered his senior season listed as the No. 2 kicker in the nation by The Sporting News ... ranked No. 8 in the preseason by the College Football News ... was on Lou Groza Award watch lists by The Sporting News, College Football News and Lindy's/Sportsline.
1999: The Terps' second-leading scorer totaled a career-best 80 points as a junior, establishing personal highs for field goals (16), PAT's (32) and touchbacks on kickoffs (35) ... Maryland junior class record for points kicking (80) surpassed previous mark of 73 by Jess Atkinson ... earned honorable mention All-America honors from Football News ... his 16 field goals equaled the second-most in a season by a Terrapin kicker and tied for 19th nationally in per-game average (1.4) ... his season long of 46 yards came in the season finale vs. Virginia ... on the season, he was 8 of 9 from 29 yards or less, 7 of 8 from 30-39 yards and 1 of 4 from 40-49 yards ... 16 of 21 overall for 76.2 percent, eighth best in Terp history ... had the first game-winning field goal of his career when he booted a 19-yarder with 3:25 remaining to lift Maryland to a 17-14 road win vs. Wake Forest, an effort which helped propel him to ACC Special Teams Player of the Week honors ... had a three-field goal game vs. Virginia and two-field goal games vs. Temple, West Virginia and Duke ... 35 of his 61 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks, an impressive percentage of .573.
1998: Led Maryland in scoring while booting 12 of 18 field goals ... tied with five others for ninth on Maryland's single season chart with 12 FGs ... finished ranked 43rd nationally after leading the country at one point and ranking in the top 10 virtually all season ... did not miss an attempt that wasn't blocked, or longer than 45 yards ... had 10 field goals in the month of September including five of 45 yards or longer ... after missing 46-yarder in season's first attempt, hit 10 straight until 37-yard attempt was blocked vs. Florida State ... 46-yarder at Virginia was second-longest of career ... pair of 43-yard field goals at West Virginia was first career game with multiple 40-yarders ... pair of 43-yarders were third-longest of career ... was 4 of 6 between 40 and 49 yards and 8 of 9 inside 40 ... only miss inside 40 yards was blocked ... 3 for 3 (23, 42, 29) vs. Temple to earn ACC Special Teams Player of the Week honors ... 3 for 4 (46wr, 21, 27, 26) in season opener vs. James Madison ... came out of spring drills contending with senior Brad Rhodes for the placekicking chores ... hit both of his field goal attempts in an overtime "kick-off" to lead his team to victory in the annual spring game.
1997: Became only the third true freshman to kick for the Terps ... saw his first action in the season's fourth game, vs. Temple, when he took over the kickoff and PAT duties ... was the hero in the Terps' win over Duke, earning ACC Rookie of the Week honors after connecting on all three of his field goal attempts (47, 31, 36 yards) in a 16-10 victory ... hit both of his attempts -- from 39 and 44 yards -- in the season finale vs. Georgia Tech ... shared the team lead in scoring, totaling 30 points ... converted 6 of 10 field goal attempts and 12 of 13 extra-point tries.
High School: Graduated from Hollywood Hills High School in 1997 ... was a first team all-state selection as a senior ... also was a two-time all-county and all-conference honoree ... career-long 56-yard field goal came during his senior season, when he made 8 of 11 field goal attempts and all 14 PAT tries ... earned Student-Athlete of the Week honors from the Sun-Sentinel newspaper and was a member of the National Honor Society ... high school coach was Jack Pierson.
Personal: Brian Matthew Kopka ... born Nov. 27, 1978 ... son of Renee Wallack and Sam Kopka ... a brother, Kevin, was a kicker at Notre Dame ... majoring in communications ... Maryland scholar-athlete in 1997, 1998 and 1999 ... football team's George Boutselis Award as a junior for letterwinner with highest academic average ... won the George C. Cook Award in 2000 as the senior with the highest academic average ... CoSIDA Academic All-District in 1999 and 2000 ... member of 1999 ACC Academic Honor Roll.
