CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
• Two-time recipient of the Bakken-Andersen Big Ten Kicker of the Year Award
• Two-time first-team All-Big Ten
• 2013 first-team All-American (Sporting News)
• Northwestern record holder for career points (280), career field goal percentage (.872), single-season field goals made (23), and most consecutive made field goals (17) and extra points (136-for-136 career); second in career field goals made (48-of-55)
• 2013 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Member
• 2013 Carnig-Minasian Citizenship Award winner
2013: Redshirt senior ... Repeated as the Bakken-Andersen Big Ten Kicker of the Year and a first-team All-Big Ten selection ... Drew All-America nods from numerous outlets, including a first-team honor by The Sporting News and second-team nods from the Walter Camp Foundation and Bleacher Report ... 2013 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Member ... Semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award for the second time in as many seasons ... Broke several Northwestern school records, becoming NU's all-time leader with 280 points (104 in 2013) and a career field goal percentage of .872 ... Led the Big Ten and ranked second nationally in scoring with 1.9 field goals per game as a senior, converting 23-of-25 in 2013 to set an NU single-season record ... Ranked 10th nationally in field goal percentage with a mark of .920 ... Ranked second in the Big Ten with 8.7 points per game ... Notched three field goals, including a long of 42 yards, in his final game at Illinois ... Connected on all four field goal attempts vs. Michigan, including a long of 40 in the first quarter ... Hit a season-long 43-yard field goal in home state against Wisconsin ... Eclipsed 200 career points with two field goals and six PATs against Syracuse ... Connected on three field goal attempts at Cal, including a season-long of 35 yards ... Converted all five PAT attempts against the Bears ... Handled kickoff duties and averages of 61.3 yards with 21 touchbacks on 65 kicks ... Academic All-Big Ten and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honoree.
2012: Second year as NU's starting place-kicker ... Named Bakken-Anderson Big Ten Co-Kicker of the Year ... Became first NU kicker to be named first-team All-Big Ten (coaches) since Brian Gowins in 1997 ... Named one of 20 national semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, presented to the nation's top place-kicker ... Finished 19-for-20 on field goal tries -- including a 6-of-7 success rate from 40 or more yards -- to establish the NU single-season mark for field goal percentage (95.0) ... His 107 points are sixth-most by a Wildcat in school history and he now stands eighth all-time with 176 career points ... His 19 field goals in 2012 were one shy of the single-season mark of 20 held by Brian Gowins (1997) and Amado Villarreal (2008) ... Tied his own school record for consecutive PATs made in a single season (50) and enters 2013 with an active streak of 101 straight made PATs, fifth all-time in Big Ten annals (2010-present) ... Finished second in the Big Ten with 1.46 field goals per game ... Fourth in the conference in scoring with 8.23 points per game ... Provided game-winning PAT in NU's 42-41 season-opening win at Syracuse, putting the Wildcats in front for good with 44 seconds to play ... Against Vanderbilt, hit eventual game-winning 18-yard field goal with 2:01 remaining, finishing the game a perfect 3-of-3 with makes from 40, 37 and 18 yards in a 23-13 win ... It was his first career game with multiple made field goals ... Topped that performance a week later vs. Boston College by going 5-for-5 on field goal attempts, tying the NU school record for FGs in a single game ... Hit from 42, 20, 29, 41 and 19 yards in 22-13 victory over the Eagles en route to Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors ... His five field goals are one of eight performances in FBS this year of five or more in a game ... Converted all five PAT attempts in win over South Dakota ... Accounted for 14 points in win over Indiana with three field goals (44, 34 and 29 yards) and five PATs ... 4-of-4 on extra points vs. both Nebraska and Iowa ... Connected on a 34-yard field goal attempt and all four PATs at Michigan ... Finished 3-of-3 on field goal tries (24, 43, 27 yards) at Michigan State, including the game-winner with 7:30 remaining that broke a 20-20 tie ... Hit 2-of-2 field goals (44, 36 yards) and kicked six PATs in win over Illinois (12 points) ... Accounted for 10 points in TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl win vs. Mississippi State, hitting field goal attempts from 34 and 37 yards ... Named team's Special Teams Player of the Week vs. Vandy, Boston College and Indiana ... Twice named a Lou Groza Award Star of the Week (BC, Indiana) ... Academic All-Big Ten.
2011: First-year starting place-kicker ... Led all Big Ten players with his 50-of-50 PAT mark ... Had a successful debut, booting a 43-yard field for NU's first season points at Boston College ... Missed his first collegiate FG try (45 yards) vs. Eastern Illinois, but successfully converted all six PAT boots ... Drilled a 20-yard field goal vs. Michigan, as well as all three PAT kicks ... Converted a career-long 47-yard field goal at Iowa and all four PAT kicks for a seven-point game ... Hit a 25-yard field goal vs. Penn State ... Drilled a 37-yard field goal and all eight PAT kicks vs. Indiana to remain perfect (34-of-34 PAT's) for the season ... Totaled a career-best 11 points against the Hoosiers ... Scored four points (all PAT kicks) at Nebraska and vs. Rice (all PAT kicks) ... Drilled all four PAT kicks vs. Minnesota ... Converted both PAT kicks vs. Texas A&M in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas to finish a perfect season for PAT kicks (50-of-50) ... Also booted a 34-yard FG versus the Spartans ... Tied for second in team scoring with 5.23 ppg (tied with Jeremy Ebert) ... Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
2010: Saw first collegiate action versus Illinois State, converting a PAT kick.
2009: Did not see action.
High School: 2008 MaxPreps first-team All-America kicker ... 2008 EA SPORTS second-team All-America kicker ... Garnered first-team SuperPrep All-America honors in 2007 ... Two-time first-team Associated Press all-state selection ... Rivals.com All-Region ... Ranked seventh among all players in the state of Wisconsin by Rivals.com ... Ranked seventh-best kicker nationally by Rivals.com and 19th-best kicker nationally by ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc.... Lettered three years and was a team captain for the Warhawks ... In 2008 (senior season), booted 8-of-11 field goals (no misses under 50 yards and a season-long 55-yarder) and 63-of-65 PAT's, and 70 of his 88 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks ... Helped lead Arrowhead to a three-year record of 39-3 and a state title his junior season when the Warhawks went 14-0 and were ranked among the nation's top 30 teams ... Warhawks finished as the Division I state runners-up in 2006 and 2008 ... Converted 65-of-66 PAT's and 6-of-11 FG's his junior year, while 71 of his 98 kickoffs went for touchbacks ... Two-time first-team Classic 8 All-Conference honoree ... Selected to play in Wisconsin's North-South All-Star game on July 18, 2009 ... Named to school's Honor Roll all four years ... Coached by Tom Taraska.
Personal: Born Jeffrey Shane Budzien ... Son of Katie Petroff and Bill Budzien ... Family friend with David Merkow, former NU student-athlete and the 2006 Big Ten Golfer of the Year ... Earned his undergraduate degree in economics with a minor in business institutions before pursuing a master's in sports administration.