From K-State Athletics
One of the most accurate kickers in the nation in 2018, Kansas State junior Blake Lynch was one of 30 place kickers in the nation to be named to the watch list for the 2019 Lou Groza Award, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced Wednesday.
It marks the 11th time in school history a Wildcat has been up for the award, including the fourth time in the last six seasons. Most notably, Martin Gramatica won the award in 1997, while Joe Rheem (2004), Anthony Cantele (2012) and Matthew McCrane (2017) were semifinalists.
A native of Goddard, Kansas, Lynch connected on 14-of-16 field goals and 19-of-20 extra-point attempts last season. He led the Big 12 and ranked 14th nationally in field goals per game (1.56), while his percentage mark of 87.5 was third in the conference, 12th nationally and third in K-State history.
Lynch went 4-for-4 on two occasions in 2018, against South Dakota and Texas Tech, the latter earning him Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors. He became just the third player in school history to make at least four field goals in two different games in one season, joining Rheem (1999) and Gramatica (1998).
Lynch is the fifth Wildcat to be honored during by a National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) organization, which has been rolling out their watch lists over the last two weeks. Joining Lynch on various NCFAA watch lists are running back James Gilbert (Maxwell Award), center Adam Holtorf (Rimington Award), defensive end Wyatt Hubert (Bronko Nagurski Trophy) and punter Devin Anctil (Ray Guy Award)
