Colorado State University Athletics
Placekicker Camper Named Groza Award Semifinalist
11/4/2021 12:00:00 PM | Football
The Pueblo native leads the country in made field goals this season.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State placekicker Cayden Camper has been named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation's top place kicker, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced on Thursday.
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Camper is one of 20 kickers to earn the distinction and the first Ram since Jared Roberts (2013) to be named a semifinalist for the award.
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This season, the Pueblo, Colo., native leads the nation in successful field goals at 22. His 22 makes are already the second-most in single-season program history with only Jeff Babcock's school record of 24 in 2002 left to eclipse. Camper is averaging a national-best 2.8 made field goals per game while pacing the Rams with a Mountain West-leading 83 total points.
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This season, there have been five total instances in the FBS of a kicker making five or more field goals in a single game. Camper has three of those five including a school-record 6-for-6 performance in a 32-14 victory over San Jose State.
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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 23rd and honored at the 30th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Virtual Awards Celebration, streamed live on December 8th on lougrozaaward.com. The same panel then selects the winner, who will be announced live on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 9th.
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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.
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Camper is one of 20 kickers to earn the distinction and the first Ram since Jared Roberts (2013) to be named a semifinalist for the award.
Â
This season, the Pueblo, Colo., native leads the nation in successful field goals at 22. His 22 makes are already the second-most in single-season program history with only Jeff Babcock's school record of 24 in 2002 left to eclipse. Camper is averaging a national-best 2.8 made field goals per game while pacing the Rams with a Mountain West-leading 83 total points.
Â
This season, there have been five total instances in the FBS of a kicker making five or more field goals in a single game. Camper has three of those five including a school-record 6-for-6 performance in a 32-14 victory over San Jose State.
Â
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 23rd and honored at the 30th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Virtual Awards Celebration, streamed live on December 8th on lougrozaaward.com. The same panel then selects the winner, who will be announced live on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 9th.
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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.
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