Andrew Gantz Named Groza Award Semifinalist

Bearcats kicker Andrew Gantz has earned the honor of being named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist for the second season in a row. There are only six kickers in the entire nation that have earned repeat honors. That should signify how special this honor is for the Bearcats kicker.

Andrew is 17-21 on field goals this season. His 17 makes has him in a four way tie for the most made field goals in the nation. Gantz is tied for 10th in the nation with 86 points.

Here’s the Groza Award release highlighting Andrew Gantz, followed by the full list of semifinalists:

West Palm Beach, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has released the 20 semifinalists for the 2015 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award presented by the Orange Bowl. These twenty kickers have all excelled throughout the season in earning their places as semifinalists.

Proving how difficult consistency can be in the kicking game, just six of the semifinalists have earned the honor before. Florida State junior Roberto Aguayo, who won the award in 2013, and Utah junior Andy Phillips have made it in each of their three seasons, while Duke senior Ross Martin and TCU senior Jaden Oberkrom were each semifinalists in 2014 and 2012 as well. Making the list for the second time are Memphis junior Jake Elliott (2013) and Cincinnati sophomore Andrew Gantz (2014).

While Elliott leads the nation in kick-scoring per game with 11.1 points, it’s Gantz and three new-comers who are tied for the FBS lead in field goals made. Miami sophomore Michael Badgley, Boise State junior Tyler Rausa and Idaho junior Austin Rehkow have each matched Gantz with 17 field goals thus far.

2015 Groza Award Semifinalists

Name, School

Roberto Aguayo, Florida State

Michael Badgley, Miami (FL)

Jonathan Barnes, Louisiana Tech

Daniel Carlson, Auburn

Trent Domingue, LSU

Jake Elliott, Memphis

Ka’imi Fairbairn, UCLA

Andrew Gantz, Cincinnati

Ross Martin, Duke

Jaden Oberkrom, TCU

Andy Phillips, Utah

Bobby Puyol, UConn

Tyler Rausa, Boise State

Austin Rehkow, Idaho

Ryan Santoso, Minnesota

Garrett Schwettman, Western Kentucky

Joey Slye, Virginia Tech

Nick Smith, Marshall

Conrad Ukropina, Stanford

Nick Weiler, North Carolina