Kansei Matsuzawa, a senior placekicker for the University of Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors, has been named one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award. This honor is given annually to the nation’s top collegiate placekicker by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.
Matsuzawa is joined as a finalist by Aidan Birr from Georgia Tech and Tate Sandell from Oklahoma. The winner will be announced at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 12.
A panel consisting of over 100 FBS head coaches, Sports Information Directors, media members, former Groza finalists, and current NFL kickers selected the three finalists and will vote for the winner. Matsuzawa is UH’s first finalist for this award since Jason Elam in 1992.
Nicknamed “Tokyo Toe,” Matsuzawa leads all FBS players with 23 made field goals and ranks seventh nationally in total points scored with 103. He has successfully converted all 23 field goal attempts this season, maintaining a streak of 24 consecutive makes dating back to last year—the longest active streak in FBS. Among college football kickers this season, he is one of only three who are perfect on their attempts and the only one with more than 15 tries.
Matsuzawa has gone nine-for-nine on kicks of at least 40 yards, tying him for seventh-most in FBS for such distance. He has recorded five games with at least three field goals made—one shy of tying the FBS single-season record. He started his season by making a game-winning kick against Stanford as time expired and has made at least one field goal in each of Hawai’i’s eleven games so far. His career-long is a 52-yarder against Fresno State.
His performance set new school records for both most field goals in a season (23) and most consecutive made field goals (24). Additionally, Matsuzawa was named to seven different Midseason All-America teams and earned Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week honors four times this year.
