Kicker Nick Novak Among Semifinalists For Lou Groza Award
11/4/2002 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 4, 2002
ORLANDO, Fla. -
Sophomore kicker Nick Novak, who leads the ACC in field goal accuracy this season, is among 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation's top placekicker.
Novak, from Charlottesville, Va., has connected on 14 of 17 field goal attempts and all 40 of his PAT tries this season. He currently leads the Terps with 82 points scored.
Among the others named semifinalists for the award are three kickers from the Big 10 - Mike Nugent from undefeated Ohio State, Nate Kaeding from sixth-ranked Iowa, and Dan Nystrom from surprising Minnesota. Also on the semifinal list are Billy Bennett from SEC East-leading Georgia, Jared Siegel from Pac 10 power Oregon, and Nick Browne from surging TCU.
A brief biography of each semifinalist can be found at www.palmbeachsports.com/Groza.
The voters for the Lou Groza Award are comprised of all Division I head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters from across the country, conference officials, various NFL kickers, and all previous Lou Groza Award finalists.
The three finalists for the Lou Groza Award will be announced on November 18.
The award, now in its 11th year, is named for NFL Hall-of-Fame kicker Lou 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. Nicknamed "The Toe," Groza was one of the first people to truly make kicking an art form, and he helped usher in to football the idea that a player could be used exclusively for kicking.
The Lou Groza Award is sponsored by AvMed, Bank Atlantic, The Breakers, Continental Airlines, ESPN, Florida Coca-Cola Bottling, JBS Destination Solutions, Palm Beach Kennel Club, The Palm Beach Post, Parallax Productions Rooney's Public House, Sheraton West Palm Beach at CityPlace, and WPEC News 12.
2002 Lou Groza Award SemifinalistsNAME SCHOOL CLASS Joey Ashcroft Air Force Academy Jr. Asen Asparuhov Fresno State Sr. Xavier Beitia Florida State So. Dustin Bell University of Houston So. Billy Bennett University of Georgia Jr. Nick Browne Texas Christian Jr. Santiago Gramatica South Florida So. Nick Hayes Alabama-Birmingham So. Curtis Head Marshall University Sr. Aaron Hunt Clemson University Jr. Mark Jensen California Sr. Nate Kaeding University of Iowa Jr. Dane Kidman Utah State University Sr. Kevin Miller East Carolina Sr. Nick Novak University of Maryland So. Mike Nugent Ohio State University So. Dan Nystrom University of Minnesota Sr. Jared Parseghian Miami University Fr. Jared Siegel University of Oregon So. Shaun Suisham Bowling Green State Jr.
