ORLANDO – UCF football kicker Noe Ruelas has been named as a 2025 Lou Groza National Collegiate Placekicker Semifinalist. In just his first season as a Knight, Ruelas has left his name all over the UCF record book.
Ruelas is one of 20 FBS kickers to earn a spot on the semifinalist list and is having a tremendous campaign with the Black and Gold. He’s the first UCF kicker in its FBS history to make three field goals of 50+ yards, tying a career long with a 54-yarder against Houston, a 53-yarder at Kansas State and a 51-yard make against West Virginia. The lone Knight to hit more than three 50-yard field goals was Scott Ryerson, who banged home four from beyond 50 yards in 1981, UCF’s final season at the Division-III level.
NOE 💣 from 54! pic.twitter.com/nWTPzEEUc0
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) November 8, 2025
Ruelas had a streak of 11 straight field goals made prior to just his second miss of the 2025 season at Baylor on Nov. 1. He joined a group of five Knights to make 11 or more consecutive field goals in program history, tying the legendary Matt Prater for 11 straight made.
Prior to hitting his third field goal from 50+ yards, Ruelas and Colton Boomer were the only two Knights in the program's FBS history to make a pair of 50+ yard field goals in a single season, with Boomer doing so in 2023. The last UCF kicker to hit 11 or more consecutive field goals was Shawn Moffitt, who nailed 12 in a row across the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Ruelas is 14-for-16 on field goals this season and 27-for-28 on PATs. He needs three more field goals to set a single-season career high.
Ruelas joins former UCF kicker Matthew Wright as Knights who have earned a semifinalist nod for the Lou Groza, doing so in 2018. Wright holds the record for most career field goals made, converting on 55 from 2015-18 and at one point making 154 consecutive PATs. Wright is the program’s all-time points leader, accounting for 375 throughout his career.
Semifinalists will be voted on by a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists, and current NFL kickers to select the three finalists. These finalists will be announced on Nov. 25 and honored at the 34th annual Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Awards Banquet on Dec. 8 in Palm Beach County. The same panel then selects the winner, who will be announced live on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Friday, Dec. 12.
The Award is named for National Football League Hall of Fame kicker Lou “The Toe” Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Although an All-Pro offensive lineman as well, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.
Since the first Lou Groza Award was handed out in 1992, 33 finalists, including 17 winners, have gone on to appear in the NFL, earning 13 trips to the Pro Bowl and taking home 8 Super Bowls. That list includes 2025 NFL kickers Daniel Carlson Jake Elliott, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Ryan Fitzgerald, Graham Gano, Matt Gay, Zane Gonzalez, Joshua Karty, Younghoe Koo, Jake Moody, Will Reichard, Cairo Santos and Andre Szmyt.
About UCF Athletics
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.