University of Connecticut Athletics
Chris Freeman Named a Lou Groza Semifinalist
11/18/2025 12:00:00 PM | Football
STORRS, CT -Â Â UConn placekicker Chris Freeman (Zionsville, IN) has been named a semifinalist for the 2025 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award presented by the Orange Bowl and announced by The Palm Beach County Sports Commission on Monday.
Freeman is 20-of-23 on field goal attempts this season and prefect on all 45 extra point tries. He ranks fourth in the NCAA in total points scored (105) and 10th in field goals per game (1.82). Freeman hit a third-quarter 45-yard field goal at Rice to mark his 12th-straight make to set a new career-best mark and a new UConn school record. Freeman made 11-straight last season, tying the previous mark set by Dave Teggart in 2011. Freeman buried both of his field goal attempts at Buffalo including a season-long 44-yard make with :06 seconds left to lift UConn over the Bulls. It marked the first field goal to win a game in the closing seconds since the 2016 season when a Bobby Puyol 37-yard make with :11 seconds left led UConn over Maine at home, 24-21
Freeman is one of 20 candidates and is joined by Aidan Birr (Georgia Tech), Trey Butkowski (Pittsburgh), Lucas Carneiro (Ole Miss), Dom Dzioban (Miami OH), Stone Harrington (Texas Tech), Jackson Kleather (Bowling Green), Luca Lombardo (Boston College), Laith Marjan (Kansas), Kansei Matsuzawa (Hawaii), Gabriel Plascencia (San Diego State), Nico Radicic (Indiana), Damian Ramos (LSU), Noe Ruelas (UCF), Ethan Sanchez (Houston), Tate Sandell (Oklahoma), Ryon Sayeri (USC), Trey Smack (Florida), Gianni Spetic (Memphis) and Peyton Woodring (Georgia)
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 November 25th and honored at the 34th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Banquet on December 8th 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, December 12th.
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.
For more information regarding the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, please visit LouGrozaAward.com, or follow @LouGrozaAward on X/Twitter for updates as they happen. Additional information can be obtained by contacting Jared Fleet, Director of Event Operations at the Palm Beach County Sports Commission at (561) 233-3120 or jfleet@palmbeachsports.com.
