by Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

Oregon sophomore Aidan Schneider was named Thursday to the 30-player preseason watch list for the Lou Groza Award as the nation's best placekicker.

Schneider, who joined the Ducks as a walk-on out of Portland last fall, made 11-of-12 field-goal attempts in 2014. He handled the majority of attempts after taking over at midseason from Matt Wogan, though Wogan is expected to compete for the job again this preseason.

After making his first attempt at Cal, Schneider ended up making seven straight to open his career. That included a 40-yard kick in Oregon's 45-16 win over Stanford, and a 42-yarder as Schneider went 3-for-3 in the Ducks' win at Utah.

Schneider made another three field goals in Oregon's Pac-12 championship game win over Arizona, which also featured his lone miss of the season. He then made his only attempt in the Rose Bowl victory over Florida State, and both his field-goal attempts in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Combined with his 40-of-42 extra-point kicking, Schneider finished the season with 73 points, third on the team behind Royce Freeman (114) and Marcus Mariota (96). Wogan was fourth with 60 points.

The Groza Award watch list includes 2014 winner Brad Craddock of Maryland and 2013 winner Robert Aguayo of Florida State. Schneider is one of five nominees from the Pac-12.