Maryland kicker Brad Craddock became the first Terrapin ever to win the Lou Groza Award on Thursday night. The award is given annually to the best kicker in all of college football.

Craddock had an excellent season. He finished 18-of-19 on field goal attempts, and his 57-yard make against Ohio State on Oct. 4 was the second-longest successful field goal try in college football this season. He was 11-of-12 on kicks from more than 39 yards. Craddock came within a late 54-yarder in Maryland's final game from finishing the season with a perfect kicking record. In the end, it didn't matter.

"Obviously, being here for three years you understand what all these awards are and what they mean to get, how hard they are to get," Craddock said about 20 minutes after he was given the award on ESPN. "Obviously, it's just an honor to be standing down here. And having my name called was just a blessing on top of all the other blessings I've got this year."

Aguayo made 25 of 27 field goals, with a long of 53 yards. On pure pedigree, he has been regarded for two years now as the best kicker in the country, but Craddock beat him out. The other finalist, Lambert, missed nine of 36 attempts, but his 27 field goals were the highest total in the country. He also hit a couple of late winners, including a 47-yarder at Maryland on Sept. 13.

Craddock, a native of Adelaide, Australia, was named the Big Ten's kicker of the year on Dec. 1, then a USA Today and Walter Camp second-team All-American on Thursday. Regardless of postseason honors, though, his transformation has been impressive. He began his career with a 62.5 percent field goal success rate as a freshman in 2012. Then it was 84 percent as a sophomore and 95 percent in this, his junior campaign.

"His work ethic and competitiveness are unmatched and personify what all of our student-athletes should strive to achieve," Maryland coach Randy Edsall said in a statement. "To see him arrive at Maryland having never played football and transforming himself into the best kicker in the nation is something that is very special."

Assuming he returns to school and doesn't join the NFL next year, Craddock should give Terps a strong closing act. He said he'd work on improving his kickoffs and sit down in the offseason to plot out his plan. Before that, he'll have a Dec. 30 bowl game with the rest of the Terrapins, the Dec. 30 Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif.

"I've been training while I've been down here, so that's still obviously the goal. The team's the number one priority," he said. "I've got to make sure I do right by them."

For now, Craddock can enjoy himself – to an extent. His parents joined him at the College Football Awards Show in Orlando, as did kicking mentor Matt Stover and his holder, Michael Tart. The group was planning a celebratory dinner, although Craddock had at least one other essential order of business to handle after his big win.

"Probably finish up writing a paper, because it's due at 12 o'clock tomorrow," he said.

(This article was updated with comments from Craddock and Edsall).