Completed Event: Football versus Auburn on September 20, 2025 , Win , 24, to, 17
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17
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sandell Wins Lou Groza Award
December 12, 2025 | Football
NORMAN — Tate Sandell is officially the best placekicker in college football.
The University of Oklahoma redshirt junior was announced as the school's first-ever winner of the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award during The Home Depot College Football Awards show live on ESPN Friday night. The Groza Award, in its 34th year, is organized by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission and is presented by the Orange Bowl.
Sandell was one of three finalists for the award along with Georgia Tech's Aiden Birr and Hawaii's Kansei Matsuzawa.
The SEC Special Teams Player of the Year and All-SEC First Team selection by the league's coaches and media, Sandell turned in the greatest regular season performance by a kicker in program history. During the 2025 campaign he has set or tied eight career or single season school, conference, FBS or stadium records.
"Every kicker dreams of winning the Lou Groza Award, so I'm deeply honored to be this year's recipient," said Sandell. "I watch the presentation every year, so being able to have my name etched into the history books as a Groza Award winner and to be recognized as of one of the best kickers for a legendary Oklahoma program is nothing short of God's great work. He continues to work miracles in my life every day and gets all the credit. I also credit my parents, brother, sister, girlfriend and grandparents. They have shaped me into the person I am today and continue to challenge and support me.
"I'm also incredibly grateful to Coach (Doug) Deakin and Coach (Brent) Venables for entrusting my leg to do the job. And winning this award would never have happened without my incredible teammates, especially long snapper Ben Anderson and holder Jacob Ulrich. The three of us have an amazing bond on and off the field, and they are equally responsible for the success of our kicking unit. I'm excited to continue my amazing season with all my teammates and coaches."
Sandell is 23 for 24 on field goal tries this season and has made each of his last 23, setting a school and single-season SEC record. He is 7 for 7 on field goals of 50-plus yards (only one other player has made as many as five) and 10 for 10 on field goals of 45-plus yards. His four makes of 55-plus yards are a school career record and the most nationally this season (the next most this year is two). His 96% field goal rate leads the SEC and ranks second nationally, and he has made all 32 of his PAT attempts this season. He was a three-time SEC Special Teams Player of the Week and was named a Groza Award Star of the Week on Nov. 4.
The Port Neches, Texas, product is one of just two kickers nationally since at least 1995 to make at least seven field goals of 50-plus yards without a miss. He has made a school-career-record four field goals of 55-plus yards and is one of two FBS kickers in at least the last 30 years with four makes of 55-plus yards in a season (the only one to do it in a five-game stretch).
Sandell has made a nation-leading and OU-single-season-record 15 field goals of 40-plus yards (the previous program record was nine). He tied a school-single-game record at Tennessee with his four field goals (55, 51, 40, 55 yards) and tied the Neyland Stadium record for longest field goal (55 yards; twice). He became the first FBS kicker since 2021 to make three 50-plus-yard field goals in a game (tied the FBS record) and the first FBS kicker since 2011 to make two 55-plus-yard field goals in a road game.
Sandell also leads the country with his average-make distance of 41.8 yards (min. 15 conversions).
In his first year at Oklahoma after transferring from UTSA this past summer, Sandell has scored 101 of the team's 317 points (32%) this season. He has made at least one field goal in each of the last 11 games and has made at least three field goals in four of the last six contests. He was responsible for 26 of OU's 56 points (46%) in November road wins over Tennessee and Alabama, and for 36 of the Sooners' 90 points over their four November victories.
Sandell did not attempt a field goal in the season opener against Illinois State but made all five of his extra-point attempts. He missed his first field goal attempt of the season (from 42 yards) in OU's 24-13 win over Michigan on Sept. 6 but made a 21-yard kick later in the game and has not missed since.
He converted field goals of 52 and 29 yards in OU's 42-0 win at Temple on Sept. 13, and against Auburn on Sept. 20 connected on three attempts (49, 32 and 28 yards) for the first time this season. Versus Kent State on Oct. 4, Sandell hit from 49, 39 and 55 yards, with the 55-yarder marking a career long. He added two more makes of 40-plus yards against Texas on Oct. 11 (from 42 and 41 yards), kicked another 55-yarder in OU's 26-7 win at South Carolina on Oct. 18 and twice converted from 42 yards vs. Ole Miss on Oct. 25.
Sandell's performance at Tennessee was perhaps the greatest single-game kicking performance in school history, as he booted three field goals longer than 50 yards and four longer than 40. He followed that game by making kicks from 25, 52 and 24 yards in OU's 23-21 win at Alabama on Nov. 15. The 24-yarder, which came with 13:41 remaining in the game, put the Sooners in front and represented the game's final points. Sandell closed the regular season by making a 45-yard field goal in OU's 17-6 win over Missouri on Nov. 22 and a 38-yard boot in the 17-13 win over LSU on Nov. 29.
Sandell is Oklahoma's 93rd major national award winner and the school's first since 2018 when former quarterback Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy, the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, the Manning Award and the Associated Press National Player of the Year award.
The No. 8 Sooners (10-2, 6-2 SEC) will host No. 9 Alabama (10-3, 7-1 SEC) in the College Football Playoff First Round on Friday, Dec. 19, at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ABC and ESPN.
The University of Oklahoma redshirt junior was announced as the school's first-ever winner of the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award during The Home Depot College Football Awards show live on ESPN Friday night. The Groza Award, in its 34th year, is organized by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission and is presented by the Orange Bowl.
Sandell was one of three finalists for the award along with Georgia Tech's Aiden Birr and Hawaii's Kansei Matsuzawa.
The SEC Special Teams Player of the Year and All-SEC First Team selection by the league's coaches and media, Sandell turned in the greatest regular season performance by a kicker in program history. During the 2025 campaign he has set or tied eight career or single season school, conference, FBS or stadium records.
"Every kicker dreams of winning the Lou Groza Award, so I'm deeply honored to be this year's recipient," said Sandell. "I watch the presentation every year, so being able to have my name etched into the history books as a Groza Award winner and to be recognized as of one of the best kickers for a legendary Oklahoma program is nothing short of God's great work. He continues to work miracles in my life every day and gets all the credit. I also credit my parents, brother, sister, girlfriend and grandparents. They have shaped me into the person I am today and continue to challenge and support me.
"I'm also incredibly grateful to Coach (Doug) Deakin and Coach (Brent) Venables for entrusting my leg to do the job. And winning this award would never have happened without my incredible teammates, especially long snapper Ben Anderson and holder Jacob Ulrich. The three of us have an amazing bond on and off the field, and they are equally responsible for the success of our kicking unit. I'm excited to continue my amazing season with all my teammates and coaches."
Sandell is 23 for 24 on field goal tries this season and has made each of his last 23, setting a school and single-season SEC record. He is 7 for 7 on field goals of 50-plus yards (only one other player has made as many as five) and 10 for 10 on field goals of 45-plus yards. His four makes of 55-plus yards are a school career record and the most nationally this season (the next most this year is two). His 96% field goal rate leads the SEC and ranks second nationally, and he has made all 32 of his PAT attempts this season. He was a three-time SEC Special Teams Player of the Week and was named a Groza Award Star of the Week on Nov. 4.
The Port Neches, Texas, product is one of just two kickers nationally since at least 1995 to make at least seven field goals of 50-plus yards without a miss. He has made a school-career-record four field goals of 55-plus yards and is one of two FBS kickers in at least the last 30 years with four makes of 55-plus yards in a season (the only one to do it in a five-game stretch).
Sandell has made a nation-leading and OU-single-season-record 15 field goals of 40-plus yards (the previous program record was nine). He tied a school-single-game record at Tennessee with his four field goals (55, 51, 40, 55 yards) and tied the Neyland Stadium record for longest field goal (55 yards; twice). He became the first FBS kicker since 2021 to make three 50-plus-yard field goals in a game (tied the FBS record) and the first FBS kicker since 2011 to make two 55-plus-yard field goals in a road game.
Sandell also leads the country with his average-make distance of 41.8 yards (min. 15 conversions).
In his first year at Oklahoma after transferring from UTSA this past summer, Sandell has scored 101 of the team's 317 points (32%) this season. He has made at least one field goal in each of the last 11 games and has made at least three field goals in four of the last six contests. He was responsible for 26 of OU's 56 points (46%) in November road wins over Tennessee and Alabama, and for 36 of the Sooners' 90 points over their four November victories.
Sandell did not attempt a field goal in the season opener against Illinois State but made all five of his extra-point attempts. He missed his first field goal attempt of the season (from 42 yards) in OU's 24-13 win over Michigan on Sept. 6 but made a 21-yard kick later in the game and has not missed since.
He converted field goals of 52 and 29 yards in OU's 42-0 win at Temple on Sept. 13, and against Auburn on Sept. 20 connected on three attempts (49, 32 and 28 yards) for the first time this season. Versus Kent State on Oct. 4, Sandell hit from 49, 39 and 55 yards, with the 55-yarder marking a career long. He added two more makes of 40-plus yards against Texas on Oct. 11 (from 42 and 41 yards), kicked another 55-yarder in OU's 26-7 win at South Carolina on Oct. 18 and twice converted from 42 yards vs. Ole Miss on Oct. 25.
Sandell's performance at Tennessee was perhaps the greatest single-game kicking performance in school history, as he booted three field goals longer than 50 yards and four longer than 40. He followed that game by making kicks from 25, 52 and 24 yards in OU's 23-21 win at Alabama on Nov. 15. The 24-yarder, which came with 13:41 remaining in the game, put the Sooners in front and represented the game's final points. Sandell closed the regular season by making a 45-yard field goal in OU's 17-6 win over Missouri on Nov. 22 and a 38-yard boot in the 17-13 win over LSU on Nov. 29.
Sandell is Oklahoma's 93rd major national award winner and the school's first since 2018 when former quarterback Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy, the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, the Manning Award and the Associated Press National Player of the Year award.
The No. 8 Sooners (10-2, 6-2 SEC) will host No. 9 Alabama (10-3, 7-1 SEC) in the College Football Playoff First Round on Friday, Dec. 19, at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ABC and ESPN.
Players Mentioned
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OU Football Signing Day Show
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Wednesday, December 03
