After a historic season, senior place-kicker Zane Gonzalez was honored with one of the 20 semifinalist spots for the Lou Groza award.
Gonzalez broke the FBS record for career scoring by a kicker in week seven with his 89th field goal. Gonzalez also is the only kicker this season to reach 20 field goals and he holds a 95.2 accuracy rating, the highest for kickers with at least 15 attempts this season.
This is Gonzalez’s third time being named one of the 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza award. His junior season, 2015, was the only time he wasn’t a semifinalist.
Out of the 20 semifinalists, three will be selected as the finalists for the award. That announcement will be made on November 22nd with the winner of the award being announced on December 8th at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show which will be televised on ESPN.
Gonzalez is the front-runner to win this year’s award. While the judges for the award are only supposed to take into account his body of work from this season, most believe that his career body of work while at Arizona State should give him the award.
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Regardless of if he wins or not, Gonzalez will be considered one of the greatest Sun Devils and possibly the first all-time great Sun Devil to come out of the Todd Graham era.
With three games remaining in the regular season, it is time to take a moment and appreciate Gonzalez for the player that he is. He is a consistent kicker who can always be counted on. While Gonzalez’s season got off to a shaky start in the beginning of his junior season, he has left those memories behind as he has become considered almost automatic from anywhere inside of 50 yards.
While Gonzalez’s time as a Sun Devil may be coming to an end, ASU fans can look forward to seeing him at the next level where he will continue to make the pitchfork proud.