Auburn’s kicker was perfect this year but he was 10 FG attempts behind Graham.
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I went back and looked at all the winners. A guy from UC won it a number of years ago so that’s why I thought it was a local kid who had. Graham has the best case IMHO.
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Jonathan Ruffin from 2000.
I remember he was profiled as the “player to watch” from UC in the program for the 2001 Victory Bell game at Yager.
Edit: I just went back to check the box score… Ruffin missed his only field goal attempt in that game. Perfect.
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Younger brother of the Bengals kicker.
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Sounds like a real piece of shit.
For the record, Ruffin’s Groza-winning stats from 2000:
26/29 FG
26/27 XP
I just voted. It says you can vote daily until Dec 2. Fan vote only counts as one total vote, but so far he is solidly ahead!
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I know he’s in the portal, but he deserves congratulations for All-American status he earned while a RedHawk. First list I’ve seen from this season is the Athletic site:
First-team specialists
| POS. | PLAYER | TEAM |
|---|---|---|
| K | Graham Nicholson |  Miami (OH) |
| P | Tory Taylor |  Iowa |
| AP | Xavier Worthy |  Texas |
K Graham Nicholson, Miami (OH): Yes, Nicholson missed his first field goal of the season in last Saturday’s MAC title game, but he also made three kicks in the RedHawks’ nine-point win for the championship. For the season, he has made 26 of 27 field goals, including 10 of 11 from at least 40 yards to help propel the team to 11 wins.
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Congratulations to Graham! A Fist Team Mismi RedHawks All American!
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I am very happy for him and was so excited with the prospect of a Miami player being a first team All American. Have to admit knowing he is leaving the program in advance of the awards (Groza, All American teams) being announced has make it feel a little bittersweet. Wish him the best but sure wish he would stay!
I guess this means he won the Graza. How can the first team dude not win it?
Congrats to Graham. Hopefully this won’t be the first major honor for him.
Yeah, it’s bittersweet knowing he’s in the portal… but he obviously still did a ton for us, from booting the winning kick against Northwestern to get us over the P5 hump… to legitimately being the best player at his position in the NCAA… to being the special teams MVP in Detroit. He’s still a champ at Miami no matter what happens and hopefully he’ll be the Groza winner at Miami.
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USA Today first team as well.
Happy birthday to Graham.
His real present may be a day late.
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Just updating an important stat…
One (1) Lou Groza Award
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Well, this seemed obvious after the Groza Award announcement but it’s now official…
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Complete list of Nicholson national awards (as of Dec. 11, 2023)
Lou Groza Award Winner
First-team All-American by The Athletic
First-team All-American by CBS Sports
First-team All-American by USA Today
First-team All-American by the Walter Camp Award
First-team All-American by College Football Network
First-team All-American by Sporting News
First-team All-American by Sports Illustrated
First-team Associated Press All-American
Second-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)
The “Football Writers” Members actually need to either go to, or watch the damn games instead of hanging out at their local gin mill and dozing off after noon.
This is great news, but I spend my days reading Clive Cussler novels so the nuance is lost. Is there a certain number you have to get to get first team ie: 5 out of 8? He had a clean sweep save one pub so obviously a majority. Just curious.
He has Walter Camp and AP, two of the four listings I believe are used for being considered a Consensus 1st team All American. iIRC, the other two are the Coaches poll (AFCA), and the Football Writers poll. Not sure on how many you need to be named to be Consensus…thought it was half.
Regardless, he has already laid claim to being a 1st team All American! Congrats Graham!
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