Nov. 4, 2003
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State senior J.C. Mejia (Salinas, Calif.) has been named as one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award, the Palm Beach Country Sports Commission announced Tuesday. The honor, which began in 1992, is given annually to the most outstanding NCAA Division I-A placekicker.
In his first season with the Aztecs, Mejia is 15-for-20 on field-goal opportunities, just three short of tying the SDSU single-season record of 18. Mejia has made at least one field goal in eight of the team's nine games, including a record-tying four in the victory over Wyoming on Oct. 25. The Salinas, Calif., native ranks 11th nationally and is tied for first in the Mountain West Conference in field goals per game with a 1.67 mark. Mejia has hit five field goals of 40 yards or more this season with two of those coming against then-No. 2 ranked Ohio State (46 and 47 yards).
Mejia is one of three kickers from the Mountain West Conference to be named to the list, joining Brigham Young's Matt Payne and UNLV's Dillon Pieffer. Mejia is also one of nine semifinalists who were not chosen for the 30-kicker preseason watch list in early August.
The list of 20 semifinalists will be reduced to three on Nov. 17. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on Dec. 9, at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott in Palm Beach, Fla.
A panel of over 300 votes on the award, including Division I-A head coaches, sports media, conference representatives, NFL kickers and all previous Groza Award finalists. The award is named for NFL Hall of Fame kicker Lou Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza, nicknamed "The Toe," won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954.
The semifinalists for the 2003 Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award are in alphabetical order:
Steve Azar, Sr., Northern Illinois
Xavier Beitia, Jr., Florida State
Nick Browne, Sr., TCU
Trey DiCarlo, So., Oklahoma
Drew Dunning, Sr., Washington State
Connor Hughes, So., Virginia
Ben Jones, So., Purdue
Nate Kaeding, Sr., Iowa
Ryan Killeen, Jr., USC
Matt Leach, Jr., Florida
J.C. Mejia, Sr., SDSU
Jonanthan Nichols, Jr., Mississippi
Nick Novak, Jr., Maryland
Matt Payne, Jr., BYU
Jon Peattie, Fr., Miami (Fla.)
Dillon Pieffer, Sr., UNLV
David Rayner, Jr., Michigan State
Nate Smith, Sr., Louisville
Andrew Wellock, Fr., Eastern Michigan
Kirk Yliniemi, Sr., Oregon State