Nov. 2, 2006
The New Mexico football team may be off, but senior kicker Kenny Byrd has enjoyed an outstanding week. Byrd was named one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award on Wednesday, two days after earning Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Week and Lou Groza national Star of the Week honors for his performance in the Lobos’ win at Colorado State on Oct. 28. He is one of seven kickers on the list who were semifinalists in 2005 and is the lone MWC player in the group of 20.
Byrd leads the MWC with 15 field goals this season and also has a conference-best 22 touchbacks to help New Mexico rank No. 1 in kickoff coverage.
A former soccer player at Albuquerque St. Pius X High School, Byrd had never played organized football before walking onto the team in the fall of 2002. He ranks fourth all-time at UNM with 29 career field goals and is second on the career accuracy list, connecting on 78.4 percent (29-37) of his field goal attempts.
Among this year’s 20 semifinalists are 2005 Groza Award winner Alexis Serna of Oregon State, and 2005 runner up Mason Crosby of Colorado. Also making the 2006 semifinalists list are 2005 semifinalists Byrd, Garrett Rivas of Michigan, Sam Swank of Wake Forest, Brandon Pace of Virginia Tech, and Reagan Schneider of Texas El Paso.
The Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award recognizes the top place-kicker in NCAA Division I-A football. Voters for the award include Division I-A head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters, conference representatives, professional kickers, and previous Groza Award finalists.
The three finalists for the Lou Groza Award are announced on Monday, November 20 and will be honored at the 15th Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Banquet on Tuesday, December 5 at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott. The 2006 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award winner will be announced on Thursday, December 7 during the ESPN Home Depot College Football Award Show in Orlando, Florida.
The award, now in its 15th 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.
For more information on the 20 semifinalists, including complete statistics, please visit the Lou Groza Award Candidates page.