COLUMBUS, Ohio – Penn State junior kicker Tyler Davis has been recognized as the NCAA’s most accurate kicker, as he was named the winner of the 2016 Vlade Award presented by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.
The award is named for former Ohio State kicker Vlade Janakievski who was one of the most accurate placekickers in Ohio State football history. The 2016 Vlade Award will be presented during the 62nd Touchdown Club of Columbus Awards on Feb. 4, 2017 at Express Live! in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
In 2016, Davis was perfect on 55 PAT attempts and accurate on 91.7 percent (22-of-24) of field goal tries, with both of his failed conversions coming on blocks. His field goal accuracy percentage enters the Rose Bowl above the program single-season record of 83.3 percent (Brett Conway, 1994; Joey Julius, 2015).
Davis also led the Big Ten in scoring with 121 points and ranks fourth all-time in single-season scoring in conference history. In the Penn State record books, Davis ranks fifth on Penn State’s all-time single-season scoring charts and his 22 field goals are tied for second-most in a single-season following Sam Ficken’s 24 in 2014.
Davis was named to the All-Big Ten first team by the league’s coaches and the second team by the media, and was also a Lou Groza Award semifinalist. Highlights of the season included a program-record streak of 18 consecutive field goals made, dating back to 2015, a game-tying kick at the end of regulation against Minnesota to force overtime and a career-high 15-point performance against Rutgers that included four field goals, earning him Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the Week honors.