According to a Wednesday announcement from the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, ECU junior kicker Jake Verity has been named to the 2019 Lou Groza Place-kicker Award Watch List.

The award is named for NFL Hall of Famer Lou Groza who played for the Cleveland Browns for twenty one seasons and honors the top collegiate placekicker.

Verity has also picked up Preseason First-Team All-AAC honors by Athlons and Phil Steele’s College Football Preview Magazine. He is the third ECU player to be named to the watch list since 2011 joining Michael Barbour (2011) and Warren Harvey (2013).

Last season, Verity was a first team All-AAC pick after leading the conference in both field goals made per game at 1.58 and field goal percentage at 90.5 percent which was an ECU single season record.

He ranked fourth in field goal percentage nationally and twelfth in field goals made per game last season.

Verity ranks eighth in career field goals made per game in making 36 of 48 attempts in his three years of participation. He also has hit 27 of 38 PAT's, connected on 19 of 21 field goal attempts and tied his career long of 52 yards in the Memphis game.

He connected on at least one field goal in eleven of twelve games including multiple field goals in seven games including his first game winning 38-yard field goal against ODU.

In 26 career games,, Verity has hit 36-of-48 (75.0 percent) on field goals and 67-of-69 (97.1 percent) on extra points and has been credited with 175 career points in his ECU career which stands 11th all-time heading into this season.

Accomplishments are tabulated throughout the season and the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award will name twenty semi-finalists on Thursday, November 7th. From this list, a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists, and current NFL kickers selects the top three finalists for the award, announced on Tuesday, Nov. 26th. That same group then selects the national winner, who will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 12th during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN.

The 28th Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, presented by the Orange Bowl, recognizes the three finalists during a celebration in Palm Beach County, culminating with a gala awards banquet at West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 9th.