Mountain West Football: Five Named To Lou Groza Award Watch List

The Mountain West lands five kickers on the preseason watch list of college football’s top players at the position.

Lots of quality specialists.

Watch list season continued today with the unveiling of the Lou Groza Award roll call. The award honoring the nation’s best kicker features five players from the Mountain West.

Boise State’s Jonah Dalmas leads the contingent after posting one of the best seasons by a Broncos kicker in recent memory and earning a bid as a Groza semifinalist in 2021. He led the nation with 26 field goals and finished seventh overall with a 92.9% conversion rate, but neither of those were flukes because he was 6-of-7 on attempts of 40 or more yards, the lone miss coming on his longest attempt (50 yards) of the season.

Colorado State’s Cayden Camper earned a bid, as well, after being one of the country’s busiest kickers last year. His 32 attempts were the most in college football and his 25 successes were second only to Dalmas, and he also set a single-game school record with six field goals in the team’s victory over San Jose State last October.

UNLV’s Daniel Gutierrez also bolstered his reputation as a reliable option for the Rebels, connecting on 16-of-18 field goal tries last season. For the moment, he also holds the program record as its most accurate kicker ever, succeeding on 82.2% of his attempts over the past five years.

Nevada’s Brandon Talton wasn’t quite as sharp as he had been in years past, finishing 22-of-30 on field goals, but he was a semifinalist for the award for the third straight season and he did lead all Mountain West players with 118 total points.

Hawaii’s Matthew Shipley had a quietly effective season of his own and finished third in the conference with a 85.7% success rate on field goals (18-of-21). He also finished seventh overall with 96 points.

Last year’s Lou Groza Award winner was Michigan’s Jake Moody.

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