TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State senior place-kicker Zane Gonzalez has been named the recipient of the 25th Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award as announced Thursday night at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show from the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Gonzalez, the consensus All-American, earned the honor over fellow finalists Daniel Carlson of Auburn and Younghoe Koo of Georgia Southern.
Gonzalez, a senior from Deer Park, Texas, finished his four-year career in maroon and gold as the all-time FBS leader in field goals made (96) and points by a kicker (494). His 23 made field goals out of 25 attempts in the 2016 season led the Pac-12 in both makes and percentage.
Gonzalez made an FBS-leading 14 field goals from at least 40 yards and was a remarkable 7-for-9 on attempts from 50 yards or more. That mark, the second-most ever from long distance in an FBS season, includes the longest FG of the year, a 59 yarder that was also the kick to give him the all-time record for career points by a kicker.Through the season, Gonzalez has claimed four Lou Groza Star of the Week honors, the most by any kicker in the country. With his four 'Star of the Week' honors this season, Gonzalez has earned an unprecedented six career Groza honors, the most by any kicker in the award's history.
Gonzalez joins Thomas Weber as the second ASU kicker to win the Lou Groza Award, making ASU one of only three schools with multiple winners. Weber set a Sun Devil record in 2007 by successfully kicking the first 17 of his field goals and kicked 22 of his 23 tries during the season. As a conference, the Pac-12 has accounted for five of the 25 previous winners of the award.
The greatest kicker in the history of college football. ??@ZaneG_5 is a finalist for the 2016 @LouGrozaAward! #GroZaneInTheMembrane pic.twitter.com/GULIwf7yeV
— Sun Devil Football (@FootballASU) November 21, 2016
With the Lou Groza Award win Thursday night, ASU has now claimed a total of seven national football honors that include Terrell Suggs' Rotary Lombardi and Bronko Nagurski and Ted Hendricks awards (2002), Bob Breunig's Dick Butkus Award (1974) and of course Weber's Lou Groza Award (2007).
Gonzalez was also named to the 2016 Walter Camp All-America First Team. Gonzalez became the first player since defensive tackle Will Sutton to be listed on the Walter Camp First Team, and is the first specialist in ASU history to earn All-America First Team honors.
This season marked the 127th edition of the Walter Camp All-America team – the nation's oldest All-America team. Players were selected to the first team by the 129 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors. In addition, 26 players, due to ties in the voting, were selected to the Second Team.
The first team honor for Gonzalez was the fifth of the NCAA postseason after being named to the Sporting News and Pro Football Focus All-America First Team on Wednesday and earning a first team nod from Sports Illustrated and USA Today Sports earlier today.