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University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa football placekicker Kansei Matsuzawa is turning heads across college football, and his remarkable rise from a self-taught kicker in Japan to the nation’s top scorer is fueling All-America and Lou Groza Award (college football’s annual award for the nation’s top placekicker) buzz.
Through the first half of the 2025 season, the senior has been perfect on 16 field goal attempts, setting a UH and Mountain West record for consecutive makes to start a season. Dating back to last year, his streak has reached 17, the second-longest in school history. He leads the nation in made field goals, points scored (62) and conversions from 40-plus yards (seven). His six straight games with multiple field goals without a miss also marks a Mountain West record.
Nicknamed the “Tokyo Toe,” Matsuzawa’s story has become one of the most compelling in college football. A native of Ichikawa, Japan, he grew up playing soccer and didn’t attempt his first kick until age 20 after attending an NFL game in Los Angeles. He taught himself how to kick by studying YouTube videos and eventually earned a spot at Hocking College in Ohio. After two seasons there, he joined the Rainbow Warriors as a walk-on in 2023.
Matsuzawa’s poise has already produced signature moments, including a game-winning field goal as time expired in the week 0 win over Stanford and a career-long 52-yarder against Fresno State. He has been named Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week three times this season and honored twice as a Lou Groza Award “Star of the Week.”
National media have also embraced his journey, with features in NBC Nightly News, The Athletic, Japan Times and Sporting News.
Read the full feature from UH Mānoa Athletics.
AloJapan.com