Story Published:
Dec 11, 2009 at 4:54 PM PDT
Story Updated:
Dec 11, 2009 at 4:54 PM PDT
UCLA junior Kai Forbath has been named winner of the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award.
The announcement was made Thursday on the ESPN College Football Awards Show from Orlando, Fla. He was one of three finalists.
In addition, he was also named first-team All-America by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. Last week, he was named to the American Football Coaches Association All-America team.
In the long line of UCLA All-America place kickers, Forbath might just be the best.
This year he made 26 of 29 field goals and 22 of 23 PATs for 100 points. He ranks second nationally in field goals per game (2.17). He is perfect (23 of 23) from inside 50 yards and 3-of-6 from 50-plus yards. His .897 percentage is No. 2 in the NCAA among players with 22 or more attempts.
Dating back to last year, Forbath has converted 39 of his last 42 field goals and had a string of 16 straight successes snapped at Arizona when he missed from 52 yards. He has connected on his last 35 field goal attempts inside 50 yards (his last such miss came on a 47-yard attempt in game six last season at Oregon).
Forbath’s .864 percentage is the highest in school history among players with at least 20 career field goals (John Lee holds the current record at .850). He ranks second (tied) in school history with 70 field goals and No. 5 in career scoring with 283 points in just 37 games.
His school-record nine field goals of 50 yards or longer rank No. 1 among active FBS kickers. His 70 field goals rank second (tied) among all active players (the next junior is 20 field goals behind him) and his career percentage of .864 is No. 2 among players with at least 40 attempts.
Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, one of five finalists for the Heisman Trophy that will be announced Saturday, joined Forbath as a Pac-10 honoree at the awards show by winning the Doak Walker Award that goes to the nation’s top running back.
Gerhart, who beat out fellow Heisman finalist Mark Ingram of Alabama, leads the nation with 1,736 yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground.
“It’s been remarkable, going from being 1-11 and football not being fun to now,” Gerhart told ESPN’s Chris Fowler after receiving the award. “I give credit to coach (Jim) Harbaugh and the Stanford football players for turning it around.”
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