MADISON, Wis. - Senior Taylor Mehlhaff was named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. The Groza Award is presented annually to college football's top kicker. Mehlhaff and 19 other kickers make up the semifinalists.

Taylor, a semifinalist for the award last season, was a consensus second-team All-Big Ten selection and was named UW's Special Teams Player of the Year.

Through ten games this season, Mehlhaff has hit 15-of-17 field goals and is 31-of-32 on extra point attempts. He is currently fourth in the Big Ten in field goals per game (1.5) and field goal percentage (88.2). Mehlhaff is tied for the league lead with 19 touchbacks, and along with the kickoff team, Wisconsin leads the Big Ten in net kickoff yardage (46.8 yards per kick).

Mehlhaff is the UW record holder in extra points (134), extra point attempts (137) and extra point percentage (.978). Taylor is currently fourth on the school's career scoring list with 226 points and is third on UW's career field goal list with 44 makes. He is also ranked second in Badger history with a career field goal percentage mark of 77.2 percent.

Voters for the award include Division I-A head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters, conference representatives, professional kickers, and previous Groza Award finalists.

The three finalists for the Lou Groza Award will be announced on Monday, November 19 and will be honored at the 16th Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Banquet on Tuesday, December 4. The 2007 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award winner will be announced on Thursday, December 6 during the ESPN Home Depot College Football Award Show in Orlando, Florida.

The award, now in its 16th year, is named for NFL Hall-of-Fame kicker Lou 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. Nicknamed "The Toe," Groza was one of the first people to truly make kicking an art form, and he helped usher in to football the idea that a player could be used exclusively for kicking.

Connor Barth North Carolina

Travis Bell Georgia Tech

Michael Braunstein Ohio

Kyle Brotzman Boise State

Gary Cismesia Florida State

Jud Dunlevy Virginia Tech

Matt Evensen Oregon

Steven Hauschka North Carolina State

Daniel Lincoln Tenneessee

Jose Martinez UTEP

Pat McAfee West Virginia

Taylor Mehlhaff Wisconsin

Ryan Pretorius Ohio State

Jason Reda Illinois

Louie Sakoda Utah

Alexis Serna Oregon State

Austin Starr Indiana

Sam Swank Wake Forest

Swayze Waters Alabama-Birmingham

Thomas Weber Arizona State