August 5, 2024 |
Photo – John Hoyland poster – Courtesy gowyo.com
In sports, Wyoming’s John Hoyland will start the football season once again on the list of elite place kickers.
Hoyland was named to the 2024 Lou Groza Award Preseason Watchlist. This is the third season that Hoyland has made the list.
The Cowboys went out a winner last season on Hoyland’s pin-point accurate kicking. Things weren’t looking good for Wyoming in the final minutes of last year’s Arizona Bowl in Tucson.
Hoyland made 21 field goals last season. None was bigger than the final one, to put an exclamation mark on the Arizona bowl win over Toledo. Starting quarterback Andrew Peasley was sidelined for an injury during the Cowboys’ final drive. With UW trailing 15-13 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, backup Evan Svoboda drove the Cowboys down the field, piecing together a 61-yard drive to set up Hoyland for the game winner. Do or die.
The 33rd Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, presented by the Orange Bowl, recognizes the three finalists during a celebration in Palm Beach County, culminating with a gala awards banquet on December 9th in Florida.
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.
