August 09, 2004
Texas A&M's Todd Pegram, a junior from Plano, Texas, was one of 30 candidates named to the 2004 Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award preseason watch list, the Palm Beach County Sports Institute announced on Monday.
The 2003 Big 12 leader in field goals per game, Pegram connected on 17-of-22 three-point attempts last season for an average of 1.42 field goals per game. Pegram hit 77.3 percent of his field goal attempts in 2003, which was the sixth-most accurate single season in school. Pegram led the Aggies in scoring for the second straight season with 82 points.
Among the other candidates are 2003 winner Jonathan Nichols of Mississippi and previous award finalists Trey DiCarlo of Oklahoma, Mike Nugent of Ohio State and Jared Siegel of Oregon.
The Groza Award, which as been presented to the nation's top placekicker for the past 12 seasons, was named for NFL Hall of Famer Lou Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Nicknamed "The Toe," Groza won four NFL Championships with the Browns and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954.
PLAYER SCHOOL YR
Collin Barber Syracuse Sr.
Xavier Beitia Florida State Sr.
Dustin Bell Houston Sr.
Trey DiCarlo Oklahoma Jr.
Damon Fine Nevada Sr.
Stephen Gostkowski Memphis Jr.
Nick Hayes UAB Sr.
Connor Hughes Virginia Jr.
Ben Jones Purdue Jr.
Tyler Jones Boise State Sr.
Ryan Killeen Southern Cal Sr.
Matt Leach Florida Sr.
Rhys Lloyd Minnesota Sr.
Darren McCaleb Southern Miss Soph.
Justin Medlock UCLA Soph.
Jonathan Nichols Mississippi Sr.
Nick Novak Maryland Sr.
Mike Nugent Ohio State Sr.
Matt Payne BYU Sr.
Matt Prater Central Florida Soph.
Jon Peattie Miami Soph.
Todd Pegram Texas A&M Jr.
David Rayner Michigan State Sr.
Joe Rheem Kansas State Jr.
Jared Siegel Oregon Sr.
Jason Swiger Akron Jr.
Brett Visintainer Fresno State Sr.
Andrew Wellock Eastern Michigan Soph.
James Wilhoit Tennessee Soph.
Wes Zunker New Mexico Sr.