Lou Groza Award SemifinalistLou Groza Award Semifinalist
Bob Drebin/isiphotos.com
Football

Lou Groza Award Semifinalist

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Stanford junior kicker Joshua Karty was named one of 20 semifinalists for the 2022 Lou Groza Award on Thursday morning. The Award is presented annually to the Collegiate Place-Kicker of the Year by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission and the Orange Bowl.
 
Karty, a native of Burlington, N.C., is 14-of-14 on the year on field goal attempts, with 10 of those makes from 40-or-more yards. Karty is one of two kickers nationally with at least 14 field goals made and no misses on the year, and the only kicker with 10 makes of 40+ yards this season.
 
After no field goal attempts in the first three games, Karty is 14-for-14 since. He has been named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week three times and Lou Groza Award Star of the Week following a school-record 5-for-5 effort in a 15-14 win over Arizona State.
 
Karty's makes this season have come from 22, 23, 36, 38, 43, 43, 44, 44, 45, 47, 47, 47, 49 and 53 yards this season – the 53-yarder marking Stanford's longest field goal since a 54-yarder in 2009.
 
His accuracy on field goals and PATs is not the only impressive thing about Karty, as he is a dangerous kickoff specialist as well. On 44 kickoffs this season, he has totaled 34 touchbacks and allowed just nine returns. The 14.4 yards per return allowed is fourth-best nationally.
 
Karty is 21-for-21 on the season on PATs and 14-for-14 on FG attempts. For his career, he is 48-for-48 on PATs and 24-for-29 on field goals. His five misses came from 49, 51, 54, 55 and 58 yards.
 
Only four semifinalists are still perfect on field goals, with Karty's 14 makes the second most amongst that group.
 
Semifinalists will be voted on by a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists, and current NFL kickers to select the three finalists. These finalists will be announced on November 29th and honored at the 31st annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Banquet on December 5th in Palm Beach County. The same panel then selects the winner, who will be announced live on ESPN during the Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 8th.
 
The Award is named for National Football League Hall of Fame kicker Lou "The Toe" 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. Although an All-Pro offensive lineman as well, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.
 
Since the first Lou Groza Award was handed out in 1992, 28 finalists, including 16 winners, have gone on to appear in the NFL, earning 13 trips to the Pro Bowl and taking home 7 Super Bowls. That list includes 2022 NFL kickers Rodrigo Blankenship, Randy Bullock, Daniel Carlson Mason Crosby, Jake Elliott, Ka'imi Fairbairn, Graham Gano, Matt Gay, Zane Gonzalez, Dustin Hopkins, Younghoe Koo, and Cairo Santos.