Gary Wunderlich named to Groza Award Watch List

Ole Miss senior place-kicker Gary Wunderlich has been named to this year’s Lou Groza Award Watch List as announced by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission on Wednesday. Last season, Wunderlich was a semi-finalist for the award.

(Click here for complete 2o17 Lou Groza Award Watch List.)

The Lou Groza Award goes to college football’s most outstanding place-kicker. The trophy presentation will take place on December 7, 2017 during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show.

Gary Wunderlich and Will Few celebrate after Wunderlich’s game-winning field goal against A&M in College Station in 2016. (Photo credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)

Wunderlich is one of 14 kickers returning to the watch list this season who made at least 20 field goals during the 2016 season. As a junior, Wunderlich made 22 of 23 field goals and was crowned NCAA statistical champion in field goal percentage (95.7). His lone miss last season was on a 55-yard attempt.

As a sophomore, Wunderlich connected on 19 of 25 field goals and made all 63 of his point after touchdown attempts. So far in his career, the Memphis, Tennessee native has made 83.9 percent of his field goal attempts.

Auburn’s Daniel Carlson made the watch list for the third consecutive year and is looking to become the first to be named a finalist three seasons in a row. Last season, Wunderlich and Carlson traded turns in the spotlight as the top place-kicker in the Southeastern Conference. Though Carlson made six more field goals (28) than Wunderlich, his season-ending percentage was just 87.5 percent.

For Wunderlich’s career, he currently ranks third in school history with 265 career-points scored, 47 field goals made and 124 PATs made.

Courtney Smith

Courtney is from Memphis and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Memphis in May of 2014. He began his journalism career covering the Memphis Tigers Men’s basketball team, which landed him an intern position on 730 Yahoo Sports Radio and a position with Rivals.com. A freelance writer for the Associated Press, Courtney is also a member of The Rebel Walk team and reports regularly on Ole Miss football and basketball. Courtney, the father of a six-year old girl named Soniyah, prefers to cover NCAA basketball and football, but is happy to report on any other sport that comes his way.