SAN FRANCISCO – Patrick Laird (Business Administration/Political Science Double Major, 3.51 GPA) and Luke Rubenzer (Business Administration, 3.24 GPA) earned first-team honors to lead a group of nine Cal student-athletes selected to the 2017 Pac-12 Conference Football All-Academic teams announced Thursday by Commissioner Larry Scott.

Matt Anderson (Business Administration, 3.56 GPA), Jake Curhan (Undeclared, 3.51 GPA) and Tony Mekari (Legal Studies, 3.24 GPA) were second-team selections.

Jordan Kunaszyk (Sociology, 3.09 GPA), Demetris Robertson (Undeclared, 3.08), Gabe Siemieniec (Undeclared, 3.20 GPA) and Russ Ude (Undeclared, 3.21 GPA) picked up honorable mention honors. 

To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade point average and appear in at least 50 percent of their team's games although injury or illness does not count against criteria to appear in 50 percent of a team's contests.

Laird and Rubenzer were both first-team selections for the first time but each had been honored previously with Laird earning a second-team spot in 2016 while Rubenzer was a second-team choice in 2015 and an honorable mention selection last year. Anderson joined Rubenzer in being honored for the third time, adding a second consecutive selection to the second team after he was a first-team pick in 2015. Mekari was a first-team selection in 2016. Curhan, Kunaszyk, Robertson, Siemieniec and Ude were each honored for the first time.

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Below are notes from the 2017 season on each of Cal's Pac-12 Conference Football All-Academic Team selections with full bios available by clicking on each players' name.

FIRST TEAM

Patrick Laird, RB, 6-0, 200, Jr., 1L, Arroyo Grande, CA (Mission Prep HS)
Business Administration/Political Science Double Major, 3.51 GPA
• One of 10 national semifinalists for the Burlsworth Trophy awarded annually to the nation's most outstanding football player who began his career as a walk-on
• A CoSIDA Academic All-District® selection who is also on the ballot for Academic All-America honors
• Played in 11 games with eight starts and set all of his offensive career highs while leading Cal with 191 carries for 1127 yards rushing and eight touchdowns on the ground with averages of 102.5 rushing yards per game and 5.9 yards per rush that rank sixth and seventh among Pac-12 leaders while his yards per game were 28th nationally at the end of the regular season
• Became the 16th Cal player to rush for 1000 yards or more and the first since Daniel Lasco in 2014 while recording the 19th 1,000-yard rushing season in school history with Russell White (3) and Marshawn Lynch (2) the only Cal player to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a season on multiple occasions
• Also had more receptions than any Cal running back since 1988 with career bests of 45 receptions, 322 yards receiving and one touchdown catch as well as a career-best and team-high 1449 all-purpose yards
• Had a team-high-tying 13 explosive plays of 20 or more yards from the line of scrimmage to tie for the team lead including a team-high three plays over 50 yards
• Had five 100-yard rushing games including four in his last five contests when he rushed for 727 yards and four scores over during the stretch including 545 yards and two touchdowns on the ground in his final three contests
• Had the two biggest rushing yardage totals by a Cal player since 2009 with a career-high 214 against Oregon State and 191 vs. Weber State
 
Luke Rubenzer, S, 5-11, 200, Sr., 1L, Scottsdale, AZ (Saguaro HS)
Business Administration Major, 3.24 GPA
• Played in nine games off the bench and contributed 21 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss (-1 yard), a career-high three pass breakups and one fumble recovery

SECOND TEAM

Matt Anderson, 6-0, 200, Sr., 3L, Danville, CA (San Ramon Valley HS)
Business Administration Major, 3.56 GPA
• Named the Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year awarded to the top academic senior in the league
• Earned CoSIDA Academic All-District® recognition for the second straight season
• A semifinalist for the prestigious Campbell Trophy also known as the academic Heisman, one of 30 Division I FBS candidates nationally for the Senior CLASS Award and on the preseason watch list for the Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award and
• Led the team with 95 points making 20-of-27 (74.1%) field goal attempts to tie for the fourth most made field goals in a single season and 35-of-36 (97.2%) extra-point tries 
• Set the school's career record for field goals made with 60, moving past Doug Brien (1991-93, 56) in his final collegiate game at UCLA when he made a season-high four while adding one extra point to equal a season high with 13 points
• Became Cal's all-time scoring leader in the third-to-last collegiate game of his career against Oregon State when he moved past Brien (288, 1991-93) after connecting on all three of field goal attempts while going 4-of-4 on extra-point tries to equal a season high with 13 points
• Made a career-long 52-yarder on his only field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter to send Cal's game against Arizona into overtime while also making all five of his extra-point tries
 
Jake Curhan, 6-6, 330, RFr., RS, Larkspur, CA (Redwood HS)
Undeclared, 3.51 GPA
• Started all 12 of the team's games at right tackle
• Named Cal's Most Outstanding Offensive Player against Ole Miss
 
Tony Mekari, 6-1, 290, Sr., 3L, Westlake Village, CA (Westlake HS)
Legal Studies, 3.24 GPA
• Played in all 12 games with nine starts and contributed 20 tackles as well as 2.0 tackles for loss (-4 yards), one quarterback hurry and his lone career fumble recovery

HONORABLE MENTION

Jordan Kunaszyk, 6-3, 240, Jr., 1L, Sacramento, CA (American River College/Roseville HS)
Sociology Major, 3.09 GPA
• Played in nine games with five starts and led the team with a career-high 74 tackles while adding 6.0 tackles for loss (-41 yards), 3.5 sacks (-37 yards), one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, two interceptions that he returned for a team-high 53 yards and one quarterback hurry
• Registered a career-high 16 tackles at Colorado
• Had 14 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss (-3 yards) vs. Arizona
• Recorded 11 tackles as well as career highs of 2.5 sacks and tackles for loss with 31 tackle for loss and sack yards against Washington State to become the first Cal player to earn Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week honors while also picking up Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, Rose Bowl Game, Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, College Sports Madness Defensive Player of the Week, California Muscle Milk Student-Athlete Of The Week and Cal Team Defensive Player of the Week recognition
• Also had his lone career forced fumble and quarterback hurry against the Cougars, as well as one of his three career interceptions
• Combined for 41 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss (-34 yards), 2.5 sacks (-31 yards), one forced fumble, one interception and one quarterback hurry in the three consecutive contests against Washington State and Arizona, and at Colorado
 
Demetris Robertson, 6-0, 190, So., 1L, Savannah, GA (Savannah Christian HS)
Undeclared Major, 3.08 GPA
• Started each of the first two games and contributed seven catches for 70 yards as well as the first two rushes of his career for 40 yards with a career-long 34-yard touchdown run on his first career rush vs. Weber State to total 110 all-purpose yards but missed the remainder of the season due to injury
 
Gabe Siemieniec, 6-1, 220, RFr., RS, Caledon, Ontario, Canada (Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School)
Undeclared Major, 3.20 GPA
• Handled 52 of Cal's 63 kickoffs for 3333 yards, an average of 64.1 yards per kickoff and 27 touchbacks while playing in all 12 games off the bench
 
Russ Ude, 6-3, 250, So., SQ, Atlanta, GA (The Westminster School)
Undeclared Major, 3.21 GPA
• Played in a career-high seven games off the bench and contributed one tackle at Stanford as well as two quarterback hurries