Fresno State Athletics
Asparuhov Named Semifinalist for Groza Award
11/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 4, 2002
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State's Asen Asparuhov has been named one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, presented annually to the nation's top placekicker.
Asparuhov has made 13-of-18 of his attempts this year and currently ranks 18th in the nation in field goals at 1.44 per game. The senior is averaging 7.0 points per game, good for 62nd in the nation.
In his career, the Plovdiv, Bulgaria, native has converted 45-of-63 field goals. Last year, he set Fresno State single-season records for field goals made (23) and points (129).
The Groza Award is presented annually by the FedEx Orange Bowl. This year's ceremony will take place Dec. 10 at the Sheraton West Palm Beach Hotel at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The voters for the Lou Groza Award are comprised of all Division I head coaches, sportswriters and sportscasters from across the country, conference officials, various NFL kickers and all previous Lou Groza Award finalists. The three finalists for the Lou Groza Award will be announced Nov. 18.
The award, now in its 11th year, is named for NFL Hall of Fame kicker Lou 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. Nicknamed "The Toe," Groza was one of the first people to truly make kicking an art form, and he helped usher in to football the idea that a player could be used exclusively for kicking.
2002 Lou Groza Award Semifinalists
- Joey Ashcroft, Jr., Air Force
- Asen Asparuhov, Sr., Fresno State
- Xavier Beitia, So., Florida State
- Dustin Bell, So., Houston
- Billy Bennett, Jr., Georgia
- Nick Browne, Jr., TCU
- Santiago Gramatica, So., South Florida
- Nick Hayes, So., UAB
- Curtis Head, Sr., Marshall
- Aaron Hunt, Jr., Clemson
- Mark Jensen, Sr., California
- Nate Kaeding, Jr., Iowa
- Dane Kidman, Sr., Utah State
- Kevin Miller, Sr., East Carolina
- Nick Novak, So., Maryland
- Mike Nugent, So., Ohio State
- Dan Nystrom, Sr., Minnesota
- Jared Parseghian, Fr., Miami (Ohio)
- Jared Siegel, So., Oregon
- Shaun Suisham, Jr., Bowling Green
