RENO — Nevada football true freshman placekicker Brandon Talton has been named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award.
Talton is one of 20 semifinalists for the award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top placekicker.
The Vacaville, Calif. native has garnered many accolades throughout the season, including a spot on The Athletic and ESPN’s midseason All-America teams and three Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week awards.
He is one of two to be selected from the Mountain West, along with Air Force’s Jake Koehnke.
Through 10 games of the 2019 season, Talton has been near perfect. He has connected on 15-of-17 field goal attempts and 19-of-20 extra point attempts.
Talton has two game-winning kicks to his credit, including a walk-off 56 yard field goal to beat Purdue in his first collegiate game in week one.
He is one of three freshmen nationwide to make at least 14 field goals this season, and is the only true freshman to do so.
Entering week 10 he ranks in the top 25 nationally in field goal percentage, hitting 87.5 percent.
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 Nov. 25 and honored at the 28th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards
Banquet on Dec. 9 in Palm Beach County. The same panel then selects the winner, who will be announced live on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 12.
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.
Nevada has one home game remaining in the Battle for the Fremont Cannon on Nov. 30 against UNLV. Get your tickets today by calling (775) 348-PACK or visiting NevadaWolfPack.com.
