Novak Named To Lou Groza Award Watch List
8/2/2002 8:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 2, 2002
PALM BEACH, Fla. -
University of Maryland's Nick Novak, along with two former winners, two former finalists, and a member of the defending national champions,
head up the 2002 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Preseason Watch List.
The Watch List is comprised of the top 30 preliminary candidates for the 11th Annual Lou
Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl. The award will
be given out during a ceremony on Tuesday, December 10, at the Sheraton West Palm Beach
Hotel at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Among those kickers named to the Lou Groza Award Watch List are last year's Lou Groza
Award winner, Seth Marler of Tulane, and 2000 Groza winner, Jonathan Ruffin of Cincinnati.
Auburn's Damon Duval and Alex Walls of Tennessee both are past finalists who are also on the
list. The kickers on some of the top teams in the country are on the Watch List - Todd Sievers
of Miami, Dusty Mangum of Texas, Xavier Beitia of Florida State and Drew Dunning of
Washington State. A brief biography of each player on the Lou Groza Award Watch List can be
found at www.palmbeachsports.com/Groza.
The kickers on the Lou Groza Award Watch List were chosen based on statistics from the 2001
season and on preseason expectations. However, all Division I-A kickers are eligible for
consideration for the award.
A panel of over 300 people made up of Division I-A head coaches, sports writers and
sportscasters, conference representatives, professional kickers, and all previous Groza Award
finalists votes upon the award.
The 20 semi-finalists for the Lou Groza Award will be announced on November 4, followed two
weeks later by the naming of the three Lou Groza Award finalists 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 Channel 12.
For more information regarding the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, please go to
www.palmbeachsports.com.
2002 Preseason Groza Award Watch List John Anderson University of Washington Sr. Asen Asparuhov Fresno State University Sr. Justin Ayat University of Hawaii So. Steve Azar Northern Illinois University Jr. Johnny Beck University of Kansas So. Xavier Beitia Florida State University So. Billy Bennett University of Georgia Jr. Peter Christofilakos University of Illinois Sr. David Davis University of Southern Cal Sr. Drew Dunning Washington State University Jr. Damon Duval Auburn University Sr. Damon Fine University of Nevada Jr. Curtis Head Marshall University Sr. Adam Kiker North Carolina State Jr. Luke Manget Georgia Tech Sr. Dusty Mangum University of Texas So. Seth Marler Tulane University Sr. Kevin Miller East Carolina University Sr. Nick Novak University of Maryland So. Matt Payne Brigham Young University So. Luke Phillips Oklahoma State University Jr. Jonathan Ruffin University of Cincinnati Sr. Josh Scobee Louisiana Tech Jr. Nicholas Setta University of Notre Dame Sr. Todd Sievers University of Miami (FL) Sr. Nate Smith University of Louisville Jr. Robert Treece Texas Tech University Sr. Alex Walls University of Tennessee Sr. J.D. Wallum University of Wyoming Sr. Daniel Weaver University of South Carolina Jr.
