Transfer kicker was a two-time Groza Award semifinalist at UTSA
TAMPA, July 22, 2020 – Junior transfer placekicker Jared Sackett (Fort Worth, Texas) has been named to the Lou Groza Award watch list.
Sackett, who will be eligible to compete for the Bulls this season after transferring from Arkansas, was one of just two candidates named from state of Florida universities and four from the American Athletic Conference.
Sackett sat out the 2019 season at Arkansas after transferring from the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA), where he was a two-time Lou Groza Award semifinalist. As a true freshman in the 2017 season, he set a UTSA record with 19 field goals made, despite not playing in the season opener. He went 19-for-22 in field-goal attempts in his first campaign, ranking third in field goals per game (1.9) and ninth in field-goal percentage (.864) in FBS football. He earned Groza Award semifinalist honors again in the 2018 season, as he connected on 14-of-19 field goals (73.7%), including nine makes of 40-plus yards and a career-long 51-yarder. He led UTSA in scoring in each of his two seasons, logging 80 points in 2017 and 60 in 2018.
The two-time Honorable Mention All-Conference USA kicker and USA Today Freshman All-American enters his junior season having gone 33-of-41 on career field-goal attempts (80.4%) and making 13-of-20 tries of 40 yards or beyond, including connecting from 46, 47 (twice), and 51 yards.
The Bulls are slated to open the 2020 campaign at preseason top 15 ranked Texas on Sept. 5. If preseason rankings hold, it will mark the highest ranked opening opponent in program history. The Bulls opened the 2019 campaign by falling to No. 19/17 Wisconsin in Tampa and won, 23-20, at No. 16/18 Notre Dame to open the 2011 season in the two others times USF has started a season versus a ranked foe.
About USF Football
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 23rd season (20th at the FBS level) in 2019. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 14 All-America selections and 29 first-team all-conference selections and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program record six straight appearances from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
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