And through seven games, he has proven to be worth every bit of his new perks and title.

“This is a dream come true,” Conroy said. “I never would have imagined something like this happening.”

In Saturday’s win against Illinois, Conroy made all four of his field goal attempts to put him at a perfect 13-for-13 on the season. His second field goal of the day — a kick from 34 yards out in the third quarter — gave Conroy the best start for any kicker in MSU history and guaranteed himself a spot in the school record books.

“Never would I have imagined 13-for-13, 100 percent,” Conroy said. “But to do that, it’s given me a lot of confidence. I’m excited to move forward the rest of the season.”

Senior punter Aaron Bates, who also is the holder for field goals and extra points, said Conroy’s ability was evident when he came on campus two years ago. Being behind one of the best kickers in the country in Swenson, Conroy never had the chance to show off what he could do.

Coming into the season, Bates said he had plenty of confidence in Conroy physically, but wanted to see how he could handle the mental aspect of being the kicker at a major college football program. So far, Bates said the Spartans couldn’t have asked for much more out of the sophomore kicker.

“Obviously he’s handled it well, and I think he’s proven to himself that he can handle game pressure,” Bates said. “With the confidence, it’s helped his natural ability kind of come out.”

Conroy has had plenty of help along the way, mostly from Bates, who said he spent all summer preparing the first-year starter for everything that comes along with the position.

But Conroy also has kept in contact his predecessor Swenson, who now is with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.

“He’s been my mentor through this whole process,” Conroy said. “We’ve been texting and going back and forth on how to handle adversity and how to handle success.”

Up to this point, Conroy hasn’t had to deal with much on-the-field adversity, but he said sometimes it can be just as difficult to handle the success and not become satisfied.

“You have to keep practicing almost like you had a bad week,” Conroy said. “You have to go over and maintain your technique and everything like that, just making sure everything is in check.”

Perhaps the toughest moment for Conroy this season was when head coach Mark Dantonio decided to fake a field goal down three points in overtime against Notre Dame. Although Conroy was happy with the result — Bates hitting senior tight end Charlie Gantt for the game-winning touchdown — Conroy said he wants the chance to kick a game-tying or winning field goal.

“That’s definitely something I want to check off,” Conroy said with a smile. “Brett had a couple of those, and just to watch the joy he had, I definitely want to have something like that.”

Although Conroy hasn’t had the chance to win a game in the final seconds this season, head coach Mark Dantonio said he’s been a big part of the wins. And if it wasn’t for Conroy’s currently perfect season, Dantonio said the Spartans wouldn’t be boasting an undefeated record through seven games.

“If you have a kicker who is doing very, very well, chances are you’re winning football games,” Dantonio said. “Dan has been perfect thus far, I’m very happy for him and he’s been a big factor in our record this year.”