Nov. 30, 2009
Dallas, Texas – University of Missouri sophomore placekicker Grant Ressel (Jackson, Mo.) has been named the Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his outstanding performance in helping lead Mizzou to a thrilling 41-39 comeback win over rival Kansas last Saturday. It is the first time Ressel has won the league's weekly award.
Ressel was cited for his perfect day against the Jayhawks, which was highlighted by his game-winning 27-yard field goal at the final gun to account for the final score. Ressel was 4-of-4 on the day, connecting from 43, 28, 37 and 27 yards, and his game-winner marked the first time since 1972 that a Tiger kicker made a kick to win with MU trailing in the final seconds of a game. The last time was when Greg Hill made a 31-yarder with one second left to defeat Oregon and their quarterback Dan Fouts, 24-22 in Columbia on Sept. 9th of that season.
Ressel continued his near-perfect string of kicking on the year, as he improved to 24-of-25 on the season for field goals (96.0%), and he also made 3-of-3 extra points against Kansas to improve to a perfect 38-of-38 for the year, giving him a combined kick mark of 62-of-63 (98.4%).
Ressel leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks 3rd in the NCAA with his 2.00 field goals per game average, and he also ranks 2nd in the Big 12, and 12th in the nation with his per-game scoring average of 9.17 points. His field goal accuracy mark of 96.0% is also tops in the country among kickers with 11 or more made kicks on the season.
As a reminder to Tiger fans, game-worn helmets, as well as assorted authentic jerseys, gloves and shoes from Mizzou's Nike Pro Combat special uniform worn in Saturday's game against Kansas are now available for purchase in an online auction on www.mutigers.com.