Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Eddy Pineiro has a personal goal this season. Actually, a couple of specific ones.

One is to be perfect on his attempts, a lofty objective for the redshirt junior kicker from Miami. The other is to be a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, which honors the nation's top kicker.

Seems a good bet that if Pineiro reaches his first objective, an invitation to the Lou Groza Award dinner seems likely.

"I missed four field goals my first year,'' Pineiro said. "That's four more than I want."

The strong-legged Pineiro was a hit with Gators fans as a rookie. Pineiro made 21 of 25 field goals, including 3-for-3 from 50-plus yards. In his first game, Pineiro kicked three field goals from 40-plus yards, the first UF kicker to do that since Matt Leach in 2003.

Pineiro's arrival stabilized a position that had caused the Gators some queasy moments since the departure of two-time Groza Award finalist Caleb Sturgis in 2012. As Pineiro became a fan favorite in Gainesville, Sturgis won over hard-boiled Eagles fans a year ago.


VIDEO: Pineiro hit an 81-yard field goal during offseason workouts that went viral on social media.

Sturgis, who lives in Gainesville in the offseason and often trains with Pineiro when in town, connected on 35-of-41 field goals for Philadelphia, setting a franchise record for most field goals in a season.

Sturgis hit a 55-yarder against Dallas that stands as the third-longest field goal in Eagles history and enters his fifth season in the NFL following a career with the Gators when he set school records for field goals (70), attempts (88) and most field goals from 50 yards or more (nine).

The 28-year-old Sturgis was impressed with the way Pineiro immediately lived up to the hype in his first season on campus.

"Eddy, he took the city by storm, everybody loves him. All he's done is come and done a great job and made huge kicks,'' Sturgis said recently. "I see him continuing that this year. It's special, obviously, when a kicker gets that much attention and he proves himself each and every day with that attention. He's special and he'll be playing on Sundays."

Pineiro made headlines in the offseason when he connected for an 81-yard field goal during a workout and posted the kick on YouTube. Florida fans wondered: How far can this guy kick it?

Gators coach Jim McElwain was certainly amused. Still, it doesn't sound like fans should expect Pineiro to try an 80-yarder during a game.

"You don't have to kick every one like it's an 82-and-a-quarter — however long was that one was that he kicked," McElwain said recently. "I don't know if that was altered or whatever video-wise or how deep it was, but the biggest thing is go out and do your job, be who you are."

In his brief time at UF, Pineiro is "Ed-dy, Ed-dy" when he comes out for an attempt. While it's early to anoint Pineiro the best kicker of Gators history, he is definitely near the top of "most popular kicker in Gators history."

Of course, playing in the NFL is another goal Pineiro has. He is off to a good start in Sturgis' view.

"The punter [Johnny Townsend] and kicker are the best they've probably ever had – I hate to admit it – so I'm really excited to see how they do this year,'' Sturgis said.
 
--FloridaGators.com correspondent Dawn Zinsmaster contributed to this report.