SDSU’s Gabe Plascencia Named a Lou Groza Award Semifinalist

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- San Diego State senior Gabe Plascencia (Oakland, Calif.) has been named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced Tuesday. Plascencia is one of 20 semifinalists for the award, which goes out to the top kicker in the nation.

Plascencia is the first Aztec semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award since John Baron II in 2018. Other Aztec semifinalists in recorded history were Baron II in 2016 and J.C. Mejia in 2003. Peter Holt was a finalist for the award in 1996.

This season, Plasencia has made 17 of 19 field goal attempts for an 89.5 field goal percentage and all 26 PATs. He’s also kicked off 38 times for a 64.1 average with 30 touchbacks. Plascencia was named the 2025 Mountain West Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year.

His 89.5 field goal percentage this year is ranked in a tie for third in SDSU single-season history (min. 10 att.). Among the national leaders, Plascencia ranks in a tie for first in PAT percentage (100.0), tied for 13th in made field goals per game (1.70), tied for 15th in total made field goals (17) and 21st in field goal percentage (89.47).

Plascencia is 34-for-37 on field goal attempts for his career. The 91.9 percentage is the second-highest mark in NCAA FBS history (min. 1.2 field goals per game and 30 made field goals). Plascencia made 26 consecutive field goals before missing his second attempt against Wyoming on Nov. 1, which was longest streak in program history, the longest in Mountain West history and the longest active streak in the country. Plascencia went 427 days without missing a field goal from Aug. 31, 2024 to Nov. 1, 2025.

Semifinalists will be voted on by a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists, and current NFL kickers to select the three finalists. These finalists will be announced on Nov. 25 and honored at the 34th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Banquet on December 8 in Palm Beach County. The same panel then selects the winner, who will be announced live on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Friday, Dec. 12.

The Award is named for National Football League Hall of Fame kicker Lou “The Toe” Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Although an All-Pro offensive lineman as well, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.

Since the first Lou Groza Award was handed out in 1992, 33 finalists, including 17 winners, have gone on to appear in the NFL, earning 13 trips to the Pro Bowl and taking home 8 Super Bowls. That list includes 2025 NFL kickers Daniel Carlson Jake Elliott, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Ryan Fitzgerald, Graham Gano, Matt Gay, Zane Gonzalez, Joshua Karty, Younghoe Koo, Jake Moody, Will Reichard, Cairo Santos and Andre Szmyt.