Andrew Furney named to Lou Groza Award watch list

In a move that obviously is obvious, the fine folks who run the Lou Groza Award have put WSU kicker Andrew Furney on their preseason watch list for the second consecutive year. The Groza Award is given annually to the nation's best place kicker.

Furney, one of 30 kickers on the list, faces stiff competition for the award: Cairo Santos of Tulane returns to defend his trophy.

Although Furney didn't quite match up with Santos in the accuracy department last year, hitting 14 of 20 overall to Santos' perfect 21-for-21, our kicker undoubtedly had him beat on memorable makes.

Like this one, before which I turned to Brian Floyd and said, "This isn't serious, right? He doesn't have that much leg, does he?"

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Or these ones (fast forward to 8:49 and 13:18):

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Additionally, I'm pretty sure Furney (5-10/215) could beat up that little Brazilian (5-8/160). Note to Groza voters: If you don't pick Andrew Furney, you hate America. It's that simple. You've been warned.

In related news, punter Michael Bowlin has been placed on the Ray Guy Award watch list. While I'm sure the idea of his punter winning a punting award makes Mike Leach's stomach turn, it's a nice nod to Bowlin, who had a solid junior season. Among returning punters, he had the 23rd highest average (41.95 yards) in 2012.