STANFORD, Calif. - Senior Conrad Ukropina, whose 45-yard field goal as time expired lifted 13th-ranked Stanford to a thrilling 38-36 victory against fourth-ranked Notre Dame on Saturday night, was named Pac-12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday.
The Pasadena, California, native has had a breakthrough season for the Cardinal. Ukropina has converted 15 of 17 field goal attempts, 56-conseuctive extra points and leads the team in scoring with 101 point, tied for sixth in the league. He has also shares kickoff duties with freshman Jake Bailey.
Ukropina joined the program as a walk-on in 2012 and became the starting kicker this season. David Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, awarded him a scholarship on Sept. 14.
Ukropina was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist. He kicked a career-best 52-yard field goal against UCF and a 46-yarder at USC. Ukropina tallied three field goals against Washington State and Oregon.
A science, technology and society major, Ukropina was selected to the 2015 Pac-12 All-Academic second team and CoSIDA Academic All-District.
Last week, Stanford sophomore running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Christian McCaffrey was honored as Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week.