Nov. 24, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah's Louie Sakoda has been named a finalist for the nation's highest place-kicking and punting awards. He is one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker and the Ray Guy (punting) awards. Sakoda becomes just the second player to be named a finalist for both the Lou Groza and Ray Guy awards, joining Travis Dorsch of Purdue in 2001.

The winners of the Lou Groza and the Ray Guy awards, along with several other major awards, will be announced live on the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show on ESPN, Thursday, Dec. 11 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. ET. Sakoda will attend the show in Orlando, Fla., which will be hosted by ESPN's Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit and will originate from the Atlantic Dance Hall at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Sakoda, who won his fifth Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Week award today, has won a league-record 12 MWC weekly awards in his career. He was the 2006 and 2007 MWC Special Teams Player of the Year.

Sakoda currently ranks first in the nation in kick-scoring points with 115 and is second in points scored from all positions. He has made 21-of-23 field goal attempts (91.3%) and is 17-of-17 in field goals from 47 yards and in. Sakoda's 21 field goals is tied for second in the nation, and he is tied for third in field goals made from beyond 40 yards (8) and field goals made beyond 50 yards (2). He is 53-of-54 in PATs, with one blocked.

Cool in the clutch, Sakoda kicked game-deciding field goals against both Michigan and Oregon State this year--the latter a 37-yarder with no time left on the clock. His 53-yard field goal (one of a school-record tying four field goals) in the third quarter against Michigan proved the winning score. For his career, his 86.2 field goal percentage (56-of-65) ranks first among all active NCAA FBS players with at least 50 makes. Sakoda owns virtually every school kicking record, including points in a game (16 vs. Weber State), field goals in a season (21), PATs in a season (52), career points scored (301) and career field goals (56).

As a punter, Sakoda is a four-year starter and a 2007 first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association and CBSSports.com. This year, he has had 42-percent of his punts downed inside the 20-yard line (21-of-50), including 12 inside the 15-yard line and five inside the 5-yard line. Sakoda has 12 punts of 50 yards or longer, including an 81-yard boot against Wyoming, and is averaging 41.7 yards per punt.

Against New Mexico, four of Sakoda's five punts landed inside the 20-yard line, including one on the 2-yard line and one on the 1-yard line with 1:58 remaining in the game and Utah nursing a three-point lead. For his career, Sakoda is averaging 42.02 yards per punt, which ranks third all-time at Utah, and has 48 career punts of 50 yards or longer. His team-first emphasis has made Sakoda one of the best there is in placing his punts. For his career, he has had 43-percent of his punts downed inside the 20-yard line (101-of-236), including 22 inside the 5-yard line. He ranks fourth in the nation among active players in career punt yards (9,917) and career punts (236).

Also an outstanding student, Sakoda is a Draddy Trophy finalist and a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete (which came with an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship). The marketing major is a three-time Mountain West Conference scholar athlete, carrying a 3.73 grade point average, and is a three-time Dean's List honoree. He is also a finalist for the Lowe's Senior Class Award and the Wuerffel Trophy.