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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Suisham Named To Lou Groza Watch List
August 06, 2003 | Football
Aug. 6, 2003
West Palm Beach, FL - Junior Shaun Suisham has been named to the 2003 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Preseason Watch List. Suisham, who also was up for the award last year, made a MAC record 57 of 59 PATs and also connected on 12 of 14 field goals in 2002.
The Watch List is comprised of the top 30 preliminary candidates for the 12th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl. The award will be given out during a ceremony on Tuesday, December 9, 2003, at the West Palm Beach Marriott at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, FL.
Among those kickers named to the Lou Groza Award Preseason Watch List are last year's Lou Groza Award winner, Nate Kaeding of Iowa, and the two other finalists for the award, Ohio State's Mike Nugent and Oregon's Jared Siegel. Also on the list are the kickers from seven of the eight teams who played in BCS bowl games last season: Xavier Beitia of Florida State, Billy Bennett of Georgia, Trey DiCarlo of Oklahoma, Drew Dunning of Washington State, Kaeding, Ryan Killeen of USC and Nugent.
The kickers on the Lou Groza Award Watch List were chosen based on statistics from the 2002 season and preseason expectations. However, all Division I-A kickers are eligible for consideration for the award.
A panel of over 300 experts votes on the award, including Division I-A head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters, conference representatives, professional kickers and all previous Groza Award finalists.
The 20 semi-finalists for the Lou Groza Award will be announced on Monday, November 3, followed with the naming of the three finalists two weeks later, on Monday, November 17.
The award, now in its 12h 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.
The Lou Groza Award is sponsored by BankAtlantic, The Breakers, Continental Airlines, ESPN Radio 760, ESPN Regional Television, Florida Coca-Cola Bottling, JBS Destination Solutions, Palm Beach Kennel Club, The Palm Beach Post, Parallax Productions, Rooney's Public House, West Palm Beach Marriott at CityPlace and WPEC News Channel 12.
2003 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award
Preseason Watch List
Dario Aguiniga, New Mexico State University, Sr. Joey Ashcroft, Air Force Academy, Sr. Steve Azar, Northern Illinois University, Sr. Jeff Babcock, Colorado State University, Jr. Xavier Beitia, Florida State University, Jr. Dustin Bell, University of Houston, Jr. Adam Benike, Iowa State University, Sr. Billy Bennett, University of Georgia, Sr. Nick Browne, TCU, Sr. Trey DiCarlo, University of Oklahoma, Soph. Drew Dunning, Washington State University, Sr. Robbie Gould, Penn State University, Jr. Santiago Gramatica, University of South Florida, Jr. Mike Gruzwalski, Central Michigan University, Soph. Nick Hayes, UAB, Jr. Aaron Hunt, Clemson University, Sr. Nate Kaeding, University of Iowa, Sr. Ryan Killeen, USC, Jr. Jonathan Nichols, University of Mississippi, Jr. Nick Novak, University of Maryland, Jr. Mike Nugent, Ohio State University, Jr. Jared Parseghian, Miami University, Jr. Matt Payne, Brigham Young University, Jr. Sandro Sciortino, Boston College, Sr. Josh Scobee, Louisiana Tech, Sr. Jared Siegel, University of Oregon, Jr. Brent Smith, Mississippi State University, Sr. Shaun Suisham, Bowling Green State University, Sr. Matt Wisnosky, Wake Forest University, Jr. Kirk Yliniemi, Oregon State University, Sr.
