Pitt Freshman Kicker Named National Award Semifinalist

PITTSBURGH — Pitt Panthers true freshman kicker Trey Butkowski has been named a Lou Groza Award Semifinalist, the Palm Beach County Commission announced.

The annual award is presented to the best place kicker in college football.

Butkowski, a former walk-on, was named a semi-finalist despite not being named to the preseason watch list. He is also one of 20 kickers named as a semifinalist.

Butkowski was 5-for-5 on PATs and did not attempt a field goal in his last outing in the 35-20 win over Stanford. Butkowski did not play in last week's game against Notre Dame due to an illness.

Butkowski by the Numbers

Butkowski has converted on 19-of-21 field goal attempts and 40-of-41 PATs this season. He has scored the ninth-most points by any player in college football and is second in points per game, with 10.8. Butkowski also tied for the 17th-best field goal percentage at 90.5%.

Butkowski has been very consistent as a true freshman. He now holds the Pitt program record for most consecutive field goal conversions with 16, breaking former Panthers' kicker Ben Sauls' record in just his eighth game. His 90.5% field goal rate is also on pace to break Chris Ferencik's Pitt single-season field goal percentage record of 92.3%, which he set in 1995 when he went 12-for-13 on field goal tries.

Butkowski's Journey

Butkowski started kicking in his sophomore year of high school and was primarily a soccer player for 13 years before that. He then connected with Sauls, who Butkowski said played a large role in him walking on to Pitt, through their shared kicking coach.

After one summer with the program, Butkowski went from the third-string kicker behind Sam Carpenter and transfer James London to being named the starter, prompting London to depart from the program.

Sep 13, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers place kicker Trey Butkowski (93) kicks a field goal during the second quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Butkowski went 2-for-2 on field goals and 7-for-8 on PATs, with the lone miss being blocked, in his first collegiate game against Duquesne. His first career miss was on the road against West Virginia, but he quickly bounced back and made his next three attempts.

Those next three kicks started his record-breaking run of field goal makes until he claimed the record five games later against NC State. He nearly extended the streak to 17 conversions, but missed his last attempt of the game from 48 yards out.

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