UCF Kicker Named Semifinalist For National Award

While the UCF Knights have had their struggles this season, one bright spot has come from their special teams unit.

Senior kicker Noe Ruelas, a transfer from James Madison, was one of 20 kickers across college football to get named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, which is presented to college football's top placekicker, on Tuesday.

Ruelas has gone 27-28 on extra points and 14-16 on field goals this season for the Knights, with three of them coming from 50 yards out or greater, tying him for seventh in the nation in such made field goals this season. He is only the second player in program history to hit three or more field goals from 50+ yards out in a season, joining 1981 Scott Ryerson, and is already tied with Ed O'Brien, who played from 1984-1987, for the most 50+ yard field goals made in a career in program history.

"I've just been blessed to be in a good situation with a good coaching staff that, you know, they have a lot of faith in me," Ruelas said in a press conference last month. "There's not many schools that would be kicking that 53-yarder."

Despite missing his first kick of the season in the Knights' season-opener, the West Hartford, Connecticut, native went on to make his next 11 field goals, tying current Buffalo Bills kicker Matt Prater for the fourth-longest streak in program history. Ruelas said he was actually a big Prater fan, not just because he grew up watching him on the Broncos as a Broncos fan, but his uncle owned a Mexican restauraunt in Denver that Prater would frequent during his time with the team from 2007-2014.

UCF special teams coach Pete Alamar said he was "fortunate" to have Ruelas transfer to the Knights during a radio interview with Marc Daniels on 96.9 The Game on Oct. 1.

"He's been a joy to work with, and everything that people told me about him, and what the film said is, has lived true," Alamar said.

The three finalists for the Lou Groza Award, as voted on "a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists, and current NFL kickers," according to the award's website, are announced on Nov. 25. The panel then selects the winner from the three finalists, which is announed live at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 12.

Ruelas has one more chance to bolster his resume to get selected as a finalist as the Knights host Oklahoma State on Saturday at 4 p.m. for Senior Knight.

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