Todd Sievers Among 20 Groza Award Semifinalists
Oct. 31, 2001
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – University of Miami junior placekicker Todd Sievers is among 20 semifinalists named for the 2001 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, the Palm Beach County Sports Association announced. The award, which is presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl, will be given out during a ceremony on Tuesday, December 4, at the Sheraton West Palm Beach Hotel at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, FL.
Among the 20 kickers named semifinalists for the award are Sievers, Damon Duval of Auburn, and Travis Dorsch of Purdue. Also, two of the most surprising teams this year are also represented with semifinalists – Asen Asparuhov of Fresno State and Washington State’s Drew Dunning. A full list of the semifinalists can be seen scrolling down and clicking on the Groza Watch button.
Sievers, from Ankeny, Iowa (Ankeny HS), has enjoyed an excellent junior season through six games as he has connected on 11-of-13 field goal attempts this season, including a career-long 42-yarder against Penn State. That 84.6 percent success leads all BIG EAST Conference kickers and the 11 makes is just shy of the all-time Miami single-season top 10 for field goals made in a season. Sievers is 10-of-11 inside 50 yards this season and has converted 32-of-33 extra-point opportunities. Additionally, Sievers has moved into the all-time UM career field goals list, currently ranking eighth with 22, and his 150 career points scored ranks him seventh on the all-time UM list.
Sievers leads the BIG EAST Conference in scoring overall (65 points) and in kicking points with 65 (10.8 points per game) and is second in field goal percentage (84.6 %). He also leads the conference in field goals per game with an average of 1.83 per contest. Sievers also is doing an excellent job of pinning opponents deep in their end of the field as 17 of his 34 kickoffs (50.0 %) have been downed in the end zone this season.
The voters for the Lou Groza Award are comprised of all Division I head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters from across the country, conference officials, various NFL kickers, and all previous Lou Groza Award winners.
The three finalists for the Lou Groza Award will be announced on November 12.
