University of Houston Athletics
Football's Bell Named Among Nation's Top Kickers
11/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 4, 2002
HOUSTON - University of Houston kicker Dustin Bell can add his name among the nation's top collegiate kickers.
Bell was honored Monday as one of 20 semifinalists for the 2002 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award. The award, which is presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl, will be given out during a ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Sheraton West Palm Beach Hotel in West Palm Beach, Fla. The three finalists for the award will be announced on Nov. 18.
This season, Bell has emerged as a steady offensive force for the Cougars, who attempted only four field goals during the entire 2001 season. The Houston native has connected on 8-of-9 field goal attempts and is 23-of-25 on PATs. His 47 total points are 11 points higher than his closest competitor on the team.
In addition, he became the first kicker in school history to connect on his first eight field goals to open the season.
Even his one field goal miss can be partially excused. His 54-yard attempt at Conference USA rival TCU had plenty of distance but was just wide right.
Bell joined several C-USA kickers on the award list, including Nick Browne (TCU), Santiago Gramatica (South Florida), Nick Hayes (UAB) and Kevin Miller (East Carolina).
Other semifinalists included: Joey Ashcroft (Air Force), Asen Asparuhov (Fresno State), Xavier Beitia (Florida State), Billy Bennett (Georgia), Curtis Head (Marshall), Aaron Hunt (Clemson), Mark Jensen (California), Nate Kaeding (Iowa), Dane Kidman (Utah State), Nick Novak (Maryland), Mike Nugent (Ohio State), Dan Nystrom (Minnesota), Jared Parseghian (Miami), Jared Siegel (Oregon and Shaun Suisham (Bowling Green State)
In addition, Tulane's Seth Marler was the 2001 recipient of the award.
The voters for the Lou Groza award are comprised of all Division I head coaches, sportswriters and sportscasters from across the country, conference officials, various NFL kickers and all previous Lou Groza Award finalists.
The award, now in its 11th year, is named for NFL Hall of Fame kicker Lou 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. Nicknamed "The Toe", Groza was one of the first people to truly make kicking an art form and helped usher in to football the idea that a player could be used exclusively for kicking.
