BERKELEY – Matt Anderson and Patrick Laird earned spots on the 2017 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) NCAA Division I Academic All-District® 8 Football Team announced Thursday. The selection was the second in as many seasons for Anderson while Laird earned the honor for the first time. The All-District selections place both on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot with the honorees to be announced December 14.

Anderson earned his undergraduate bachelor's degree from the Haas School of Business with a 3.56 cumulative GPA in May of 2017 and is currently enrolled at Cal as a master's student in the School of Education studying the Cultural Studies of Sport in Education. Anderson was a first-team Pac-12 All-Academic choice as a sophomore before earning second-team honors as well as CoSIDA Academic All-District® recognition in his junior campaign.

On the field, Anderson has played in 36 career games and is Cal's all-time career leader in scoring with 297 career points. Anderson has made 54-of-66 (81.8%) field goal attempts as well as 135-of-138 (97.8%) extra-point tries with the field goals also only two shy of Brien's record 56. Anderson was a semifinalist for the 2017 Campbell Trophy also commonly known as the academic Heisman and also remains a candidate for several other prestigious awards in 2017 including the Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Anderson established Cal's modern-era single-season record for points as a 2016 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). Anderson leads Cal in scoring in 2017 with 76 points having made 14-of-19 (73.7%) field goals and 34-of-35 (97.1) extra-point tries. Anderson also made the first five field goal attempts of his junior season to extend his school-record streak of consecutive field goals made to 17 including the final 12 attempts of his 2015 sophomore campaign.

Laird is a business administration major with a 3.51 cumulative GPA who was a second-team Pac-12 All-Academic selection for the first time in his career as a 2016 sophomore.

A 2017 semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy awarded annually to the nation's most outstanding football player who began his career as a walk-on, Laird is having a breakthrough campaign as a 2017 junior and leading the team in all rushing categories with career highs of 139 carries for 796 yards rushing and seven touchdowns on the ground with averages of 5.7 yards per rush and 88.4 rushing yards per game. He also has career highs with 36 receptions, 245 yards receiving and one touchdown catch as well as a career-best 1041 all-purpose yards. In addition, Laird has the two biggest rushing games by a Cal player since 2009 as a junior including career highs of 33 rushes and 214 yards rushing with one touchdown on the ground in his most recent contest against Oregon State. Earlier in the season against Weber State, he rushed for 191 yards and a career-high three touchdowns including a 73-yard score that was both a career long run and Cal's second-longest play from scrimmage in 2017. Overall, Laird has played in 26 games with six starts and contributed 861 yards rushing and eight touchdowns on the ground over 150 carries, as well as 39 receptions for 243 yards receiving with one touchdown for a total of 1104 all-purpose yards and nine touchdowns.