Syracuse football's all-time leader in field goals made will not return to the Orange in 2022. Kicker Andre Szmyt is participating in the senior festivities on senior day, and the school announced during its social media thank you to those leaving that Szmyt was among them. Szmyt has one year of eligibility remaining.
Szmyt leaves as the program record holder in field goals made, the most accurate kicker in school history and the kicker who has scored the most points in program history. Szmyt won the Lou Groza Award in 2018, the first player in Syracuse history to win the award given annually to the nation's best kicker.
Not bad for someone who joined the program as a walk-on.
Szmyt may have come to Syracuse as a walk-on, but he won the starting placekicker job after Cole Murphy graduated. He quickly became a consistent weapon on special teams with his stellar rookie campaign in 2018. While Szmyt did not make as many in the years following, he still made a high percentage of his field goal attempts.
Entering Saturday's regular season finale, Szmyt had made 157 of 161 extra points and 65 of 79 (82%) field goals during his career. During the 2018 Lou Groza Award winning year, Szmyt made 30 of 34 field goals, setting a school record for most field goals made in a single season. In total, Szmyt has racked up 352 points during his career including a program record 151 in 2018.
Whether Szmyt intends to enter the portal and look for another opportunity, turn pro or hang it up is unknown at this time.
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