West Palm Beach, Fla. – Coastal Carolina sophomore placekicker Massimo Biscardiwas named to the 2019 Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award preseason watch list, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced today.
The award is given to the top placekicker in all of collegiate football.
A 2018 Lou Groza Award semifinalist, Biscardi was named to both the 2019 Phil Steele and the 2019 Athlon Sports preseason All-Sun Belt third teams after a freshman season in 2018 that saw him earn All-Sun Belt third team accolades.
Named the team’s Special Teams Player of the Year last season by his fellow teammates and coaches, Biscardi led the team in scoring with 72 points on the season, scoring at least one point in all 12 games in 2018. The true freshman kicker was 13-for-16 on field goals and 33-for-36 on extra points on the year. His 81.3 field goal percentage was a new single-season record, eclipsing Ryan Granger’s previous mark of 81 percent set in 2016.
Biscardi, who made a career-long 50-yard field goal in the win at Louisiana (Sept. 22), made good on each of his first eight field goal attempts of his career, which is the longest consecutive streak of field goals made to start a career for a CCU placekicker in program history.
In the season opener at South Carolina (Sept. 1), he became just the second freshman and first true freshman to make three field goals in a single game matching Justin Durham who knocked three field goals through the uprights in 2007 versus Winston-Salem State. He matched that feat with three made field goals, including a 23-yard game-winner with 2:54 to go in the game in the win at Georgia State (Oct. 27).
While the preseason watch list highlights 30 of the best returning kickers in the country, the Groza Committee will be watching all FBS kickers throughout the season, and releasing a weekly “Stars of the Week” feature on www.lougrozaaward.com. All FBS kickers remain eligible to be selected as semifinalists.
Accomplishments are tabulated throughout the season and the Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award will announce its 20 semifinalists on Thursday, Nov. 7. From this list, a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists, and current NFL kickers will select the top three finalists for the award, announced on Tuesday, Nov. 26. That same group will then choose the national winner, who will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 12, during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN.
The 28th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award, presented by the Orange Bowl Committee, recognizes the three finalists during a celebration in Palm Beach County, culminating with a gala awards banquet at West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 9.
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.
The Chanticleers will host a total of six home games inside newly renovated Brooks Stadium, including a Thursday night primetime game on ESPNU versus Louisiana on Nov. 7.
Courtesy: CCU Athletic Department
