West Palm Beach, FL - The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has released its 20 semi-finalists for the 2009 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl. Middle Tennessee's Alan Gendreau is on the list to win this prestigious award and is the only representative from the Sun Belt Conference and the state of Tennessee.
Gendreau, who is tied for 14th nationally in field goals made per game, set the Middle Tennessee record for consecutive made three-pointers earlier this year at 12. The sophomore is now 14-for-15 on the season and has hit 22 of his last 24 dating back to last year.
The Apopka, Fla., product has connected on 24 of 29 career field goals and has made 62 of 63 extra points, and enters the ULL game this week with 134 career points to rank seventh on the all-time points scored by a kicker list. Gendreau's field goal made percentage of 82.8 is currently the best mark in school history over Brian Kelly's 78.4 percent (40 of 51).
Semi-finalists will be voted on by all Division 1 Head Coaches and SID's, along with national, regional and local football writers and others who will select the three (3) finalists. These finalists will be honored at the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Banquet on December 8 in West Palm Beach, FL. The winner will be announced live on the nationally televised Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show on the evening of December 10, 2009.
The award is named in honor of one of the all-time great kickers in football history, Lou Groza. Groza played 21 seasons for the Cleveland Browns setting numerous franchise records, including most games played, most points scored, and an amazing 107 consecutive games in which he scored a point. The 1,608 career points he scored is still a Browns' franchise record, and he ranks third all-time in league. Groza was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974.
Past Groza finalists include current NFL kickers, Nate Kaeding, Sebastian Janikowski, Mike Nugent, Martin Gramatica, Jason Elam and Mason Crosby.
The list of finalists are:
Wes Byrum, Auburn
Jordan Congdon, Southern California
Stefan Demos, Northwestern
Morgan Flint, Oregon
Kai Forbath, UCLA
Alan Gendreau, Middle Tennessee
Kevin Goessling, Fresno State
Alex Henery, Nebraska
Spencer Lanning, South Carolina
Hunter Lawrence, Texas
Joe Philllip, Utah
Robert Randolph, Virginia
Craig Ratanamorn, Marshall
Grant Ressel, Missouri
Will Snyderwine, Duke
Caleb Sturgis, Florida
Brett Swenson, Michigan State
Nick Tausch, Notre Dame
Leigh Tiffin, Alabama
Blair Walsh, Georgia
