Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Kicker Luke Phillips Named Groza Award Semifinalist
October 31, 2001 | Cowboy Football
Oct. 31, 2001
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State kicker Luke Phillips was recently named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, an award giving to the best place-kicker in the country by the Fed-Ex Orange Bowl.
Phillips is second in the Big 12 in field goal accuracy behind Missouri's Kirk Hammerich, also a semifinalist, with 83.3 percent of his three-point tries successful.
The OSU sophomore is 10-for-12 on field goals at the eight-game mark and is 31st nationally with 1.3 field goals made per contest. The Cowboys' standout from Tulsa, Okla., also has been a perfect 18-for-18 on extra point kicks in '01.
The voters for the Lou Groza Award are comprised of all Division I-A 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, and the award will be presented in early December.
The award, now in its 10th year, is named for NFL Hall-of-Fame kicker Lou 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. Groza was one of the first people to truly make kicking an art form, and he helped usher in to football the idea that a player could be used exclusively for kicking.
