Burns Named a Semifinalist for Guy Award
Junior one of 10 up for award
Earned second-team All-BIG EAST honors last season in his second year as the Hokies' starting punter ... Was one of 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation's top punter ... Mixes a strong leg with good athletic ability ... Showed improved consistency in 2002, but has yet to reach his full potential ... Has benefited from the athletic performance program ... Must continue working to improve his operation time ... Will be looked to for a big year ...
2003: A semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award for the second year in a
row ... Has punted 49 times, averaging 39.8 yards per kick ... Has a net average
of 36.3 yards ... Has had 14 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, four inside
the five, six touchbacks and six fair catches ... Punted twice for an average
of 39.5 yards per kick against UCF ... Had one punt downed at the 5-yard line
... Punted just once against James Madison, a 38-yarder that went into the end
zone ... Punted four times against Texas A&M ... First punt was downed on the
1-yard line ... Punted six times for an average of 45.2 yards ... Had two punts
downed inside the 20 with a long of 57 yards ... Punted four times for an
average of 41.0 yards per kick at Rutgers ... Had one punt downed inside the
20-yard line ... Punted four times for a career-best average of 46.8 yards
... Had two downed inside the 20-yard line ... Had a long of 62 yards ... Averaged
41.2 yards on five punts at West Virginia ... Had a long of 62 yards and one
downed inside the 20-yard line ... Punted eight times against No. 2 Miami,
averaging 38.5 yards per kick ... Had four punts downed inside the 20-yard
line ... Struggled in the cold weather at Pittsburgh, punting five times for
an average of 27.2 yards per kick ... Averaged 42.4 yards on five punts at
Temple ... Had one punt downed at the 1-yard line and a long of 51 yards ...
Punted six times for an average of 39.8 yards ... Had a long of 51 yards ...
2002: Punted 64 times for 2,591 yards, an average of 40.5 yards per kick ... Had a long of 58 yards with eight touchbacks, seven fair catches and 22 punts inside the 20-yard line ... Had two punts blocked ... Punted five times for an average of 40.6 yards in the opener against Arkansas State ... Had a long of 55 with three punts downed inside the 20 ... Averaged 44.7 yards per punt on nine kicks in the win over LSU ... Had a long of 58 yards with four kicks downed inside the 20 ... Performance earned him BIG EAST Special Teams Player of the Week honors ... Punted just once against Marshall, a 49-yarder ... Punted seven times at Texas A&M, averaging 40.7 yards a kick with a long of 51 yards ... Had three punts downed inside the 20, including one at the 1-yard line and one at the 5-yard line ... Punted six times for an average of 44.3 yards at Western Michigan ... Had a 57-yard punt and three downed inside the 20-yard line ... Had a big game against Pittsburgh, averaging 43.6 yards on seven punts ... Punted five times for an average of 41.2 yards at Syracuse ... Had a long of 55 yards and three downed inside the 20-yard line, including one at the 7-yard line ... Also had a punt blocked against the Orangemen ... Spent the Virginia game punting in winds of up to 30 miles per hour ... Never kicked with the wind at his back ... Punted five times for an average of 28 yards ... Had one punt downed inside the 20-yard line ... Punted three times for an average of 44.0 yards per kick at Miami ... Had a long of 48 yards, but also had a punt blocked ... Punted three times in the San Francisco Bowl, averaging 40.0 yards per kick ... Had two punts in the Maroon-White spring game for an average of 45.0 yards ...
2001: Punted 59 times in 11 regular-season games for 2,233 yards, an average of 37.8 yards per punt ... Averaged 42 yards per punt on two punts in his first collegiate action against Connecticut ... Had a long kick of 52 yards against the Huskies ... Averaged 41 yards on three punts versus Western Michigan ... Placed two kicks inside the 20-yard line against the Broncos ... Completed a 33-yard pass to Garnell Wilds on a fake punt against UCF ... Also had three punts downed inside the 20-yard line in that game ... Punted eight times at West Virginia with three punts ending up inside the 20-yard line ... Averaged 40.2 yards on four punts against Boston College ... Suffered a blocked punt in the Syracuse game ... Had his best game of the year against Temple, averaging 43.4 yards on eight punts ... His 63-yard punt in that game was a season best ... Had a 53-yard punt at Virginia ... Punted six times for an average of 42 yards against top-ranked Miami ... Put three punts inside the 20 in the Gator Bowl but had a kick blocked ... Handled all the punting in the spring game ... Punted five times for an overall average of 46.4 yards ... Posted punts of 57, 48, 45, 41 and 41 yards ...
2000: Traveled with the team briefly during the early going, but was redshirted ... Made strides in the off-season strength and conditioning program ... Came out of spring practice as the No. 1 punter ... Showed the consistency needed to win the job during the final two weeks ... Finished with an average hang time of 4.6 seconds and an average distance of over 46 yards per kick ... Punted five times in the Maroon-White game for 231 yards, including punts of 59 and 53 yards ... Shared Defensive MVP honors after averaging 46.2 yards per punt ...
High School: Was a four-year letterman as a punter/place-kicker for Coach Anthony Biagas ... Named to the Coaches' Class 5-A all-state team as a punter his senior year at St. Augustine ... Averaged 43 yards per punt ... Punted three times for a 53.3-yard average in one game his senior season ... Twice pinned Airline High inside its own 10 in the bi-district playoffs ... Named all-city, all-district and all-Metro as well as all-state ... Earned All-America honors from PrepStar, which listed him as the No. 4 punter in the Southeast Region ... Averaged just under 40 yards per punt his junior year and was an all-city selection ... Captained the football and track teams his senior year ... Helped the track team to a state championship ... Competed in the long jump (23-2) and the 400-meters (50.2) ... Served as the school's student body president ...
Personal: Ronald Vincent Burns, Jr. ... Born 2/2/82 in New Orleans, LA ... Son of Ronald and Sheila Burns ... His dad serves on the Nokia Sugar Bowl committee ... Is studying sociology.
Punting | G | No. | Yds. | Avg. | LG | I20 |
|
2001 | 11 | 59 | 2233 | 37.8 | 63 | 20 |
|
2002 | 14 | 64 | 2591 | 40.5 | 58 | 22 |
|
2003 |
12 |
55 |
2185 |
39.7 | 62 |
15 |
|
Career |
37 |
178 |
7009 |
39.4 | 63 |
57 |
|
2003 Punting Game-by-Game | |
|
UCF |
|
2 |
79 |
39.5 |
42 |
1 |
|
James Madison |
|
1 |
38 |
38.0 |
38 |
0 |
|
Texas A&M |
|
3 |
108 |
36.0 |
48 |
1 |
|
Connecticut |
|
6 |
271 |
45.2 |
57 |
2 |
|
Rutgers |
|
4 |
164 |
41.0 |
54 |
1 |
|
Syracuse |
|
4 |
187 |
46.8 |
62 |
2 |
|
West Virginia |
|
5 |
206 |
41.2 |
62 |
1 |
|
Miami |
|
8 |
308 |
38.5 |
47 |
4 |
|
Pittsburgh |
|
5 |
136 |
27.2 |
46 |
1 |
|
Temple |
|
5 |
212 |
42.4 |
51 |
1 |
|
Boston College |
|
6 |
239 |
39.8 |
51 |
0 |
|
Virginia |
|
6 |
237 |
39.5 |
51 |
1 |
|