Mountain West Football: Three Named To 2019 Lou Groza Award Watch List
The preseason list of those who could be college football’s best kicker includes a pair of former finalists from the Mountain West.
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Can a Mountain West kicker close the deal this time?
Watch list season continued today with the release of the Lou Groza Award’s list of players to follow. Given annually to the nation’s best kicker, there are three athletes from the Mountain West, all of whom could be serious contenders.
Wyoming’s Cooper Rothe was a Lou Groza finalist last season after connecting on 16-of-17 field goal attempts and finishing a perfect 28-of-28 on extra points. Our staff recently tabbed him as a first-team all-conference selection by our staff and the Mountain West media named him preseason special teams player of the year, so the expectations are high that he’ll improve on his performance with a more opportunistic offense around him.
Dominik Eberle earned a spot as a Lou Groza finalist back in 2017 and though he didn’t make that cut last fall, he still paced the Mountain West with 141 points. He was 22-of-28 on field goals in 2018, including 9-of-12 from 40 or more yards, while converting an FBS-best 75-of-75 extra points.
Hawaii’s Ryan Meskell might seem like a surprise entrant at first glance, but he had a solid 2018 by converting 15-of-18 field goal tries and 46-of-47 extra point attempts.
Fans who want to participate in the Lou Groza vote can do so by clicking on the link above and selecting their favorite kicker. Last year’s Lou Groza Award winner was Syracuse kicker Andre Szmyt.
