Kansas State sophomore place kicker Matthew McCrane was one of 30 players nationally named to the watch list for the 2015 Lou Groza Award as nation’s top place kicker, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission recently announced.
A native of Brownwood, Texas, McCrane is the ninth Wildcat to be a candidate for the award, including the third in the last four years, joining Anthony Cantele (2012 semifinalist) and Jack Cantele (2014 candidate). McCrane was also one of four Big 12 kickers on this year’s initial list, which included Ben Grogan (Oklahoma State), Josh Lambert (West Virginia) and Jaden Oberkrom (TCU).
Taking over primary place kicking duties in the fourth game of the 2014 season, McCrane went on to lead the nation by making 94.7-percent of his field-goal attempts (18-of-19) in addition to 41-of-42 extra-point attempts. He totaled 94 points on the year, shattering the K-State freshman record previously held by Martin Gramatica (56 in 1994), who went on to win the Lou Groza Award in 1997.
McCrane became the first freshman in school history to connect on a pair of 50-yard field goals, including a K-State freshman record 53-yarder against Oklahoma State. For his efforts in 2014, McCrane earned Honorable Mention All-America, Freshman All-America and All-Big 12 honors.
K-State is closing in on yet another season sellout for 2015, which would run its consecutive streak of filling Bill Snyder Family Stadium to 27 straight games, as a very limited number of tickets remain.
Fewer than 1,100 reserved tickets remain for the West Virginia game, while scattered singles and standing-room-only (NE hill) remain for all other home games. Only scattered singles remain for the Baylor game (No SRO available) due to Fort Riley Day activities.
Fans can purchase tickets by contacting the K-State Athletics Ticket Office at www.k-statesports.com/tickets or 1-800-221-CATS. Visiting teams will have opportunities to return unused tickets up to a month prior to their visit. Stay tuned to www.kstatesports.com for information regarding returned ticket availability. All returned tickets will be sold at the full public rate and season ticket wait list accounts will have first opportunity to purchase.
The Wildcats open their 120th season of football on Saturday, September 5, as K-State hosts South Dakota. The game, which is slated for a 6:10 p.m., kickoff, will be shown world-wide on K-StateHD.TV beginning at 5:30 p.m., with the K-State Gameday preview show.
Kansas State launched the new K-StateSports.com on July 1, a digital partnership with SportsLabs. Fans will need to re-subscribe to K-StateHD.TV as a new account and can do so at www.k-statesports.com later this week.