ASU Football: Brandon Ruiz earns spot on Lou Groza Award preseason watch list
By Trevor Booth
ASU football placekicker Brandon Ruiz was named to the preseason watch list for the Lou Groza Award, which is given to the best placekicker in college football.
After Chase Lucas became the first defensive Sun Devil to join a positional preseason watch list, Brandon Ruiz becomes the first to do so for the special teams.
The Palm Beach Sports Commission announced Wednesday morning that Ruiz was one of its candidates for the Lou Groza award, which annually honors the best kicker in the nation.
Per the Palm Beach Sports Commission, sponsor of the Lou Groza award:
"In 1992, The Palm Beach County Sports Commission established the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker award. This award, presented for a number of years by the Orange Bowl Committee, is given annually to the nation’s top collegiate place-kicker as determined by a voting panel of Division 1 head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters from across the county, conference representatives, professional kickers and previous winners.The Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award has become the most prestigious college football award for kickers."
The award was named after Groza, who most notably kicked the game winning field goal for the Cleveland Browns in the 1950 NFL Championship. Groza received All-Pro honors nine times and was also named the NFL Player of the Year in 1954.
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Last year’s award recipient was fellow Pac-12 kicker Matt Gay of the Utah Utes.
Entering his freshman season at Arizona State, Ruiz was met with arguably higher expectations than any kicker in the nation. He was set to replace legendary Sun Devil kicker Zane Gonzalez, who left Tempe as the NCAA’s all-time leader in field goals made in Division 1 history.
Gonzalez himself was the recipient of the Groza award in 2016.
Ruiz put forth a solid campaign in his freshman season, connecting on 49 of his 50 extra point attempts while converting 19 of his 27 field goal tries.
He was twice named the Pac-12’s Special Teams Player of the Week for his game-winning field goal against Oregon as well as going 3-for-3 on field goal kicks in a win over Utah.
After receiving this preseason recognition, it’s expected that Ruiz’s duties will be tagged with even higher pressure than last season.
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Now, there are a total of six Sun Devils that have been named to preseason watch lists. Here’s a recap of them all: