Inside The Panthers

Pitt Kicker Wins Mid-Season Award

Pro Football Focus awards Pitt Panthers redshirt senior kicker a mid-season honor for his play in 2024.

Dominic Campbell

Sep 24, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers place kicker Ben Sauls (90) kicks off to the Rhode Island Rams during the first quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Sep 24, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers place kicker Ben Sauls (90) kicks off to the Rhode Island Rams during the first quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers redshirt senior placekicker Ben Sauls continues to earn recognition for his great play this season, putting the entire nation on notice.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) named Sauls their Midseason Lou Groza Award winner. The Lou Groza Award recognizes the best kicker in college football.

Sauls is perfect on all of his 45 placements this season, going 12-of-12 from field goals and 33-of-33 on extra-point tries, leading the Panthers with 69 points on the season. He has helped the Panthers rank No. 6 in the country at 40.9 points per game.

His 49-yard field goal in the first quarter for Syracuse was his 13th straight field goal dating back to 2023, which set a new school record for most consecutive field goals. This eclipsed the previous record of 12, that both Chris Ferenick in 1995 and Conor Lee in 2007 set.

He also made a 58-yard field goal vs. Cal in their Week 7 matchup on Oct. 12 at Acrisure Stadium, that tied former Pitt kicker Alex Kessman's 58-yarder he converted against Boston College in 2020 to send the game into overtime. It is also theĀ longest field goalĀ at Acrisure Stadium in Pitt history, as Chris Boswell of the Pittsburgh Steelers made one from 59 yards there.

His best game of the season came againstĀ CincinnatiĀ in the River City Rivalry on the road in Week 2, for which he earned ACC Specialist of the Week andĀ Lou Groza Star of the WeekĀ honors.

Sauls finished the day 3-for-3 on field goals, including the only points in the second half from 47 yards and a career-high of 53 yards at the end of the first half. He would also hit the game winning field goal from 35 yards out in front of his friends and family, as he grew up 65 miles north of Cincinnati.

He had solid 2022 season, his first year starting at place kicker, as he made 20 of his 24 kicks with a long of 53 yards. Sauls struggled in his redshirt junior season making 11 of his 16 field goals with a long of 47-yards.

Sauls has had some great moments is most famous for his heroics against UCLA in the 2022 Sun Bowl. Against the Bruins, Sauls went 5-of-5 in the El Paso, Texas wind. He made kicks from 22, 49, 31, 27 and 47 yards against UCLA. Sauls made the 47-yard field goal as time dwindled down to seal the Sun Bowl victory for the Panthers.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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