Justin Sorensen receives national Lou Groza Award honor

BYU's Justin Sorensen received national recognition today for his performance in BYU's 40-21 win over Texas on Saturday. College football’s top kicking award, the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award presented by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, recognizes three of the top kickers each week from FBS division teams as the “Stars of the Week.”

Cougar fans celebrated in Provo, Utah, Saturday night when BYU upset 15th ranked Texas and a major contributor to the victory was Sorensen. The senior from South Jordan, Utah, earned the Star of the Week honor after booting field goals of 36, 34, 32 and 24 yards and converting all four of his extra point tries for a 16-point game. He is the first Cougar kicker to connect on four field goals in a game since the 2000 season. Sorenson is off to a perfect start this season. After two games he is 5-for-5 on field goals and 5-for-5 on PATs, extending his school record to 73 straight extra point conversions.   

Two games into the season, North Carolina State’s Niklas Sade can claim two “Stars of the Week” honors. This time around, the junior from Wake Forest, N.C. connected from 48 yards out with just 33 seconds remaining to lift the Wolfpack over Richmond 23-21 in Raleigh. Sade opened the game’s scoring with a 46 yarder and added a 19 yarder at the end of the first half. At 7-for-7 for the season, Sade is tied for the national lead in field goals made, and the only perfect kicker with more than five attempts. He’s also 6-for-6 on PATs, giving him 27 points, the second-most by a kicker thus far.

Looking for his first career field goal, Tulsa’s Carl Salazar didn’t get any chances in the first half of the Golden Hurricane’s home opener against Colorado State. But as time expired at the end of the game, Salazar connected on his third field goal of the half, a 34 yarder that completed Tulsa’s 30-27 comeback victory over the Rams. The senior from Broken Arrow, Okla. also scored from 31 and 23 yards out to set the scene for his game-winner. It was quite the bounce-back performance for Salazar, who went 0-for-2 in his first career game last week.

The Lou Groza Award will be presented as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards in Orlando, Fla. on Thursday, December 12th. The three finalists will be honored at the 22nd Annual Lou Groza Awards Banquet on Tuesday, December 10th at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. For more information on the Lou Groza Award, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, and to vote for your favorite Star of the Week, visit www.LouGrozaAward.com.