UT kicker Anthony Fera has been named as a finalist for the Lou Groza Award: WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Texas Longhorns senior PK Anthony Fera has been named a finalist for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced Monday. Fera is the first Texas Longhorns kicker ever to be named a finalist for the Groza Award and is one of three finalists for the award presented to the nation’s top place-kicker. Anthony Fera is having a terrific year and were thrilled that hes been named a finalist for the Lou Groza Award,” said Texas head coach Mack Brown. “Hes been a critical part of our success this season not only as one of the steadiest and most reliable field goal kickers in the nation but also as a punter. Hes come up huge for us on special teams all season long. Fera has connected on 17 of 18 field goal attempts this season (.944 percentage is ranked first nationally among kickers with at least 15 attempts) and is a perfect 39 for 39 on extra points. He has hit his last 13 FGA, the fourth longest current streak in the FBS. Fera’s 94.4% FG accuracy is on pace to be the best for a season in UT history and is the third-best mark nationally. He ranks 9th nationally with 1.7 field goals per game and 20th nationally in scoring with 8.9 points per game. Fera has made his last 13 attempts, including 3-of-3 against both Oklahoma and TCU. He made a 43-yarder as time expired in the first half against Oklahoma in response to an Oklahoma TD with 1:06 left for a 23-10 lead. In the next game, he made a 37-yarder against TCU as time expired in the first half for a 17-7 lead and was named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week. Fera has twice posted a career long this season, including his current long of 50 yards vs. Oklahoma. Fera hit all five extra-point attempts, had a career-high four field goals, a career-best 17 points and averaged 42.8 yards on six punts, including three inside the 20 against West Virginia on November 9, and subsequently was named a Lou Groza Award Star of the Week, Big 12 Special Teams co-Player of the Week and UT special teams player of the game. Fera doubles as the Longhorns’ starting punter, averaging 41.7 yards per punt. Twenty-three of his 52 punts (44.2 percent) have been downed inside the 20, and 32 have been fair caught or downed (61.5 percent). A Cypress, Texas, native, Fera had been named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award in 2011 when he went 14 of 17 on field goal attempts as a sophomore at Penn State, before being named a semifinalist this season. For his career, he has connected on 33-of-37 field goals (89.2 percent). Fera will earn degrees from both Penn State (Kinesiology/Dec. 2013) and Texas (Physical Culture and Sport/May 2014) after transferring from Penn State in 2012. The winner of the Groza Award will be announced live on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 6 p.m. CT.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 22:29:27 +0000
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