Virginia Tech Specialists Bradburn and Johnson Named to Guy and Groza Award Watch Lists

The Hokies landed two more players on preseason watch lists, as Oscar Bradburn and Brian Johnson were recognized as two of the best specialists in college football

The preseason honors continue for the Virginia Tech Hokies as two more players were placed on watch lists as the top players at their respective positions.

Senior kicker Brian Johnson is on the watch list for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to college football’s top placekicker. This will be Johnson’s third season as Tech’s kicker.

These guys are 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 ‼️

Both specialists honored this afternoon by the @RayGuyAward & @LouGrozaAward. Details ⤵️

🔗 https://t.co/bLymScvswo#HardHatMentality 👷🏽‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/piJpO6EzWO

— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) July 22, 2020

As a redshirt sophomore in 2018, Johnson connected on 12 of 18 field goals, with a long of 45 yards and all 44 of his extra-point attempts.

In 2019, Johnson was even better, hitting on 19 of his 23 field-goal attempts and all 48 PATs. His long was an impressive 54-yard field goal.

Punter Oscar Bradburn is on the watch list for the Ray Guy Award, which is given annually to the nation's top punter. The senior from Australia was a finalist for the award in 2019.

Bradburn has been Tech’s punter since arriving on campus in 2017. Bradburn averaged 42.6 yards per punt in 2018 and improved that to 46.5 in 2019. For his career, Bradburn has placed 69 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Johnson and Bradburn join Caleb Farley, Jermaine Waller, Rayshard Ashby and Christian Darrisaw as Virginia Tech players on preseason watch lists for the top individual awards. 

The Virginia Tech football program holds high expectations for this fall due to the talented returning core on offense, defense, and special teams. The fact that major contributors are landing on several preseason watch lists is a testament to the current roster and the team's chances of winning the ACC Coastal this fall.