Oct. 31, 2008

For the second straight year, UTEP's Jose Martinez has been named one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place Kicker Award, presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl.

A senior from San Jose, Calif., Martinez is 11-for-15 on field goals and 25-for-25 on PATs this season for a team-leading 58 points. He owns the second-longest field goal in NCAA history at 64 yards versus UCF earlier this year.

Martinez was one of three finalists for the award in 2007 with Arizona State's Thomas Weber and Indiana's Austin Starr. All three players returned for the 2008 season, but Martinez is the only one of the group to repeat as a semifinalist.

The other semifinalists for the 2008 Groza Award are Arkansas State's Josh Arauco, Arizona's Jason Bondzio, Miami's Matt Bosher, TCU's Ross Evans, Florida State's Graham Gano, Troy's Sam Glusman, Air Force's Ryan Harrison, Navy's Matt Harmon, Penn State's Kevin Kelly, Virginia Tech's Dustin Keys, West Virginia's Pat McAfee, Florida's Jonathan Phillips, Cincinnati's Jake Rogers, Utah's Louis Sakoda, Syracuse's Patrick Shadle, Mississippi's Joshua Shene, Alabama's Leigh Tiffin, Wisconsin's Phillip Welch and Missouri's Jeff Wolfert.

Semifinalists will be voted on by a panel consisting of all Division I coaches and SIDs, along with national, regional and local football writers and others who will select the three finalists. These finalists will be invited to the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Banquet Dec. 7-9 in West Palm Beach, Fla. The winner will be announced live on the nationally televised Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show on the evening of Dec. 11, 2008.

The award is named in honor of one of the all-time greatest kickers in football history, Lou Groza. Groza played 21 seasons for the Cleveland Browns, setting numerous franchise records, including most games played, most points scored, and an amazing 107 consecutive games in which he scored a point. The 1,608 career points scored is still a Browns franchise record, and he ranks third all-time in the league. Groza was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974.

Past Groza finalists include current NFL kickers Nate Kaeding, Sebastion Janikowski, Mike Nugent, Martin Gramatica, Jason Elam and Mason Crosby.