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<!-- The Clute, Texas, native will join Florida State’s Alex Fitzgerald and Kentucky’s Alex Raynor at the Lou Groza Award banquet in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 9 when the winner will be announced.
“I was actually just watching TV, taking a little nap,” Almendares said of getting the call that he was a finalist. “I had just gotten out of class and relaxing, so it was perfect timing.”
To be honest, it’s been his mind for about three years now. Once he became the starting kicker for the Cajuns in 2022, his goal was reaching the level of being a Lou Groza semifinalist.
That season, Almendares led the Sun Belt Conference in makes and attempts going 18 of 23, but no recognition. Last season, he only missed two of 16 tries … and still nothing.
“Last year, I had a decent year,” Almendares said. “You look at stats from some of the other guys — similar stats with the people that were in there — but I was not a semifinalist last year.
“So it kind of rubbed me the wrong way that I wasn’t there because of the field goals that I had made, but at the same time, I was like, ‘I just didn’t do enough’ — just have to take it and do better. And I did do better.”
Deep down, though, Almendares also wasn’t satisfied at how last season ended, so he was extra motivated for his final season of college football.
“I felt a little disappointed how the season ended last year,” he said. “I felt I was in the right place to continue to kick and continue doing what I was doing but I could always get better. Even (Tuesday) at practice, I felt like I got a little bit better.”
This season, Almendares has been just shy of perfect, nailing 25 of 27 attempts.
The 25 makes lead the nation. He’s also the Sun Belt’s all-time leader in made field goals and UL's all-time leading scorer.
"Kenny is great," coach Michael Desormeaux said. "He's happy-go-lucky all the time, smile on his face. Sure, he went through some ups and downs like everybody else, but always the same guy. He just worked through it."
For his career, he’s made 85.7% of his field goal attempts and is 54 of 58 on extra points.
He’s on pace to be only the third kicker since 2008 to lead the nation in field goals while making at last 90% of his kicks.
“Something about this year, the amount of field goals that we’ve made and the amount of field goals that we’ve tried, I know the guys are confident,” Almendares said. ”I know coach Des is confident and I know the defense is confident. I know the offensive line is confident. I always tell the big boys that I do it for them, so they can get a little extra rest there.”
Football is all about teamwork, though, and that doesn’t change for kickers. Almendares knows the role holder Dalen Cambre has played in his success.
That makes me feel good, but I also feel like that makes the team feel good — the fact that we go out there and make our kicks. To me, it’s a momentum change.”
For the record, the nickname is ‘Kennyseetoe' — which he said is “one of my oldest nicknames and he’s kind of the only person that says it.”
Almendares is certainly flying high these days. His parents, two brothers and girlfriend attended Saturday’s senior day activities.
Then his two brothers stayed to visit during the holidays and were there for the announcement.
“That was pretty cool,” he said. “They stayed with me because of the holidays, so I got to stay with them a little bit. They were super happy for me and I was super happy.”
For now, though, Almendares knows there's a lot more work to do.
"We still have two more games and that’s my focus. I told myself that the Lou Groza doesn’t start until Dec. 8 after that championship game on (Dec. 7) once we win that thing," Almendares said.
"Then I can hope and pray and get super excited about it … and hopefully I win it."
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