Dec. 7, 2005
ORLANDO - UCF true freshman Joe Burnett pulled off his third double-sweep of the postseason as he was named to the Collegefootballnews.com Freshman All-American first team as both a cornerback and punt returner on Wednesday. Burnett earned first-team All-Conference USA honors for both positions as well and was also named to the C-USA All-Freshman team at both spots. Joining Burnett as a CFN Freshman All-American was third-team selection Jason Venson for the Golden Knights.
Burnett is the first Golden Knight in school history to achieve first-team Freshman All-American honors.
Burnett led UCF and ranked second in C-USA with five interceptions and 12 passes defended this season. He was the only C-USA player to return a pair of punts for touchdowns, including a 68-yarder in the inaugural league championship game last Saturday against Tulsa. He led the league in punt return average with a 16.5 clip.
Venson led all C-USA freshmen and UCF with 78 tackles, including 65 solo stops. He adds this honor to his C-USA All-Freshman team honor received last week.
UCF returns to the practice field Monday in preparation for its first bowl appearance in school history Dec. 24 at the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl vs. Nevada. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. (3:30 Hawaii time) from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu on ESPN.