Oklahoma football kicker Gabe Brkic is one of 30 college players named to the 2020 Lou Groza Award watch list.
This is the 29th year for the Lou Groza Award, which recognizes the best placekicker in college football. No Oklahoma kicker has ever won the award, which was created in 1992 and named after the former Cleveland Browns star and Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Brkic, who will be in his second Oklahoma season in 2020, was a finalist last season for the Lou Groza Award, won by Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, now with the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL.
A second-team All-American by CBS Sports and a second-team All-Big 12 selection, Brkic was perfect on all 17 of his field-goal tries last season as well as 52 for 52 on point-after attempts. Four of his 17 field goals were from 40 yards or longer and 11 were from at least 30 yards
The Sooner placekicker was the only player in the nation a year ago to make all of his field-goal and extra-point tries.
Brkic kicked four field goals in Oklahoma’s only regular-season loss, a seven-point defeat at Kansas State, and contributed three field goals in the Sooners win over Baylor in the Big 12 championship game.
Besides being named to the Lou Groza Award watch list, Brkic also was voted to the Sporting News Preseason All-America First Team and the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team.
Brkic is one of four Big 12 kickers to make the 2020 Groza Award watch list. The others are Trey Wolf of Texas Tech, John Mayer of Baylor and Kansas State’s Blake Lynch.