Matt Anderson Candidate For Senior CLASS Award®

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas – Matt Anderson was selected as one of 30 NCAA® Football Bowl Subdivisions student-athletes who excel both on and off the field as candidates for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award®. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

"It is such an honor to be recognized as a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award," Anderson said. "Cal has given me incredible opportunities, and I have worked every day to give back to the University and all those associated with Cal both on the field and in the classroom and community. I am humbled and grateful that my contributions are being recognized in my selection as a candidate for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award."

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

In addition to being a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award, Anderson is a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy also commonly known as the academic Heisman and on the preseason watch list for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award given annually to the nation's top kicker.

Anderson graduated from Cal's prestigious Haas School of Business with a 3.56 cumulative GPA in May of 2017 and is currently pursuing his master's degree in the Cultural Studies of Sport in Education, a program designed at analyzing the relationship between academics and athletics in the collegiate environment. He is a three-time recipient (2014-16) of the Golden Bear Achievement Award given annually to the football student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA. Anderson was also a first-team Pac-12 All-Academic choice as a sophomore before earning second-team honors as well as CoSIDA Academic All-District® recognition as a junior.

Anderson has played in 31 career games and is Cal's active career leader in scoring with 258 points to rank fourth on the school's all-time list and within 30 points of all-time leader Doug Brien's 288. Anderson has made 47-of-58 (81.0%) field goal attempts as well as 117-of-120 (97.5%) extra-point tries with the field goals nine shy of Brien's record 56. Anderson established Cal's modern-era single-season record for points as a junior with 117 to rank second all-time while equaling the school's all-time single-season mark for field goals made (22) and leading the team in both categories as well as PATs (51-51). He has made 7-of-11 field goals and 16-of-17 field goals through the first five contests of his 2017 campaign.

Anderson is also involved in many activities outside of the classroom and off the field including the Fallen Heroes nonprofit organization that supports the family members of police officers and fire fighters that have lost their lives in the line of duty by helping to raise money through auctions. He became involved with the organization through his father, Alan, who has worked in fire service for over 30 years. Anderson has also mentored local high-risk youth in Berkeley and Oakland. In addition, he re-founded the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Cal and helped to coordinate all of the organization's community service events.

To determine the final Senior CLASS Award winner, the 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. Along with the winner, the 10 finalists will be awarded Senior CLASS Award first- or second-team honors.

The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the football bowl season in early January. For more information on the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.