BATON ROUGE – LSU senior placekicker Drew Alleman is one of 30 players around the country who has been named to the watch list for the Lou Groza Award, presented annually to college football’s top placekicker, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced Wednesday.
Alleman was a 2011 semifinalist for the Groza Award and was named a Lou Groza Star of the Week twice last season after helping LSU secure wins at Mississippi State and at Alabama.
The Lafayette, La., native enters the 2012 season as the most accurate kicker in school history with a field goal percentage of .889, making 16 of 18 field goals a year ago. Alleman also enters his senior campaign with a streak of 10 straight made field goal attempts.
Alleman is coming off an outstanding 2011 season in which he earned honorable mention All-America recognition by Sports Illustrated and picked up Second-Team All-SEC honors. He led the SEC and ranked second nationally in field goal percentage and was fourth in the conference in scoring with 110 points, the fourth-largest total in LSU single season history.
A list of 20 semifinalists will be released on Nov. 5, and three finalists will be announced on Nov. 19. A panel of more than 300 experts will select the 2012 Lou Groza Award winner, who will be announced on Dec. 6 during the Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.
2012 Lou Groza Award Preseason Watch List
Name, School, Year
Drew Alleman, LSU, Sr.
Brett Baer, Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr.
Drew Basil, Ohio State, Jr.
Tyler Bitancurt, West Virginia, Sr.
Maikon Bonani, South Florida, Sr.
Chris Boswell, Rice, Jr.
Chandler Catanzaro, Clemson, Jr.
Dan Conroy, Michigan State, Sr.
Mitch Ewald, Indiana, Jr.
Anthony Fera, Penn State, Jr.
Andrew Furney, Washington State, Jr.
Brendan Gibbons, Michigan, Jr.
Jack Griffin, FIU, Sr.
Andre Heidari, USC, So.
Parker Herrington, Air Force, Sr.
Zach Hocker, Arkansas, Jr.
Dustin Hopkins, Florida State, Sr.
Michael Hunnicutt, Oklahoma, So.
Ty Long, UAB, So.
Brett Maher, Nebraska, Sr.
Craig McIntosh, Kentucky, Sr.
Mike Meyer, Iowa, Jr.
Jimmy Newman, Wake Forest, Sr.
Cody Parkey, Auburn, Jr.
Quinn Sharp, Oklahoma State, Sr.
Jeremy Shelley, Alabama, Sr.
Caleb Sturgis, Florida, Sr.
Matt Weller, Ohio, Sr.
Jake Wieclaw, Miami (FL), Sr.
Jordan Williamson, Stanford, So.
2012 NCFAA Preseason Watch List Calendar
Monday, July 9 – Bednarik Award (Tyrann Mathieu, Sam Montgomery, Barkevious Mingo, Eric Reid) | Details
Tuesday, July 10 – Rimington Trophy (P.J. Lonergan) | Details
Tuesday, July 10 – Mackey Award (Chase Clement) | Details
Wednesday, July 11 – Lou Groza Award (Drew Alleman) | Details
Wednesday, July 11 – Ray Guy Award (Brad Wing) | Details
Thursday, July 12 – Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Outland Trophy
Friday, July 13 – Jim Thorpe Award
Monday, July 16 – Butkus Award, Lombardi Award
Tuesday, July 17 – Biletnikoff Award
Wednesday, July 18 – Davey O’Brien Award
Thursday, July 19 – Doak Walker Award
Friday, July 20 – Walter Camp Award