Junior kicker has converted 17-of-19 this season, 51-of-60 in career
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami kicker Andres Borregales was named a semifinalist for the 2023 Lou Groza Award honoring the nation’s top placekicker, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced Thursday.
One of the top kickers in FBS throughout his three-year career at The U, Borregales has tallied a 89.8% success rate on field goal attempts (17-for-19) this year. His lone misses came on attempts of 54 and 45 yards.
Named the ACC Specialist of the Week on Oct. 30, the junior is the only kicker to have successfully converted three field goal of attempts of 45 yards or longer in a game this season; he managed the feat in an overtime win against Virginia on Oct. 28.
In addition to his stellar work on field goals, Borregales has recorded 35 touchbacks on 52 kickoffs this year. A Miami native, Borregales has tallied 51 career field goals on 60 career attempts (85.0%), which ranks him as the second-most accurate among FBS kickers with 50 career attempts.
Borregales’ older brother, Jose, is the lone Lou Groza winner in program history, having successfully captured the award in 2020 as the nation’s top placekicker.
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.
Since the first Lou Groza Award was handed out in 1992, 28 finalists, including 16 winners, have gone on to appear in the NFL, earning 13 trips to the Pro Bowl and taking home 7 Super Bowls. That list includes 2023 NFL kickers Randy Bullock, Daniel Carlson Jake Elliott, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Graham Gano, Matt Gay, Dustin Hopkins, Younghoe Koo, Jake Moody, and Cairo Santos.
For more information regarding the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, please visit LouGrozaAward.com, or follow @LouGrozaAward on X for updates as they happen.
Additional information can be obtained by contacting Jared Fleet, Director of Event Operations at the Palm Beach County Sports Commission at (561) 233-3120 or [email protected].
–MiamiHurricanes.com–
