Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½'s Kenneth Almendares added more history to an already notable 2024 season.
The Ragin' Cajuns kicker and national leader in field goals became the first Ragin' Cajun to earn a national award when he was named the winner of the 32nd annual Lou Groza Award, presented by the Orange Bowl to the nation's top collegiate place-kicker and announced on Thursday during the live Home Depot College Football Award show.
Almendares, the second Ragin' Cajun to be a finalist for the award joining Mike Shafer (1994), was selected for the award over finalists Alex Raynor of Kentucky and Ryan Fitzgerald of Florida State.
"It's a tremendous honor to be recognized as the Lou Groza Award recipient and I couldn't do it without my teammates and coaching staff," said Almendares. "The offense did their job in getting down the field and putting points up on the board. The defense was making stops, so at the end of the day, it's a team effort.
"It's a credit to the 10 wins that we have this year, making it to a (Sun Belt Conference) championship game and an appearance in a bowl game."
The national FBS leader in field goals made (27) and field goals made per game (2.08), Almendares was ninth in the country in field goal percentage converting of 27 of 29 attempts (.931).
On pace to become the third kicker since 2008 to lead the nation in field goals while maintaining 90-percent accuracy, Almendares was 25-for-25 on the season in field goals from under 50 yards with his lone misses on the season coming from 53 (right) and 60 (left) yards.
Almendares led the Sun Belt Conference and was 11th nationally in points scored (127) and holds both the Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ and SBC career record for most field goals made (68). The Clute, Texas, native also holds Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ records for career scoring (362) and PATs (158) along with single-season records in field goals made and points.
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Photo caption: Kenneth Almendares (front row middle) celebrates winning the 32nd annual Lou Groza Award, presented by the Orange Bowl to the nation's top collegiate place-kicker. He is joined by girlfriend Serena Martinez (front row left), Assistant Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Mike Guiliani (front row right), teammates Hunter Sims (back row left), Dalen Cambre (back row, second from left), Special Teams assistant Aaron Schwanz (back row second from right) and teammate Carter Milliron (back row right). Photo credit: Ben Massey