Best in 25 Years Series: Budzien is Northwestern's top kicker

It's been 25 years since Northwestern's magical run to the Rose Bowl in 1995. WildcatReport is celebrating that Silver Anniversary by finding out who's been the best player at each position since that legendary team revitalized Wildcat football.

BEST IN 25 YEARS SERIES:

OFFENSE: QB Dan Persa l RB Justin Jackson l WR D'Wayne Bates l TE Drake Dunsmore l T Zach Strief l G Ryan Padgett l C Rob Johnson

DEFENSE: DE Corey Wootton l DT Matt Rice l MLB Pat Fitzgerald l OLB Napoleon Harris l CB Sherrick McManis l S Ibraheim Campbell

SPECIAL TEAMS: PR Venric Mark l KR Solomon Vault

Sam Valenzisi is one of the most beloved players in Northwestern history. A former walkon who became an All-American, he was not only a clutch kicker, but he was a captain of the 1995 Rose Bowl team. That's right, a kicker who was a captain.

But in the end, Jeff Budzien's numbers were just too good to be denied. The most accurate kicker in Northwestern history, Budzien captured 71.6% of the vote to beat Valenzisi and claim the title of the best Wildcat kicker over the last 25 years.

It's hard to argue with the result. A kicker's job is to split the uprights, and no one did it better than Budzien, who played from 2010-13.

The Hartland (Wis.) Arrowhead product hit 87.2% of his field-goal attempts in his career as a Wildcat. That's 12.2% better than anyone else in program history.

Maybe more amazingly, he's the only Northwestern kicker who never missed an extra point in his career, drilling 136 out of 136 -- also more than any other Wildcat.

In addition to those two marks, Budzien holds a host of other Northwestern records. Among them are most career points (280), most consecutive field goals made (17), most field goals in a season (23, in 2013), most kicking points in a season (107, in 2012) and accuracy in a season (19-of-20, in 2012).

He is tied for most field goals in a game, with five against Boston College in 2012, and ranks second all-time in field goals, with 48.

You'll find his name everywhere on the scoring records page in the Northwestern media guide.

Budzien was named the first-team All-Big Ten kicker in both 2012 and 2013, the only Wildcat kicker to earn that distinction twice. He also won the Bakken-Andersen Big Ten Kicker of the Year Award after each of those seasons. He is the only Wildcat to win that trophy, which was first awarded in 2011.

Maybe Budzien's greatest honor was being named a first-team All-America by the Sporting News in 2013. The only other NU kicker in history to earn that same recognition is Valenzisi. That's why you'll find both of their names on the second deck at Ryan Field.

But today, in this contest, Budzien's name stands alone.

BALLOT: Who was the best Northwestern kicker over the last 25 years?