Sept. 8, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. - UCF senior cornerback Joe Burnett (Eustis, Fla.) was named the Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday after his stellar performance in UCF's 31-24 overtime loss to No. 17 USF on Saturday night before a record crowd of 46,805 at Bright House Networks Stadium and a national television audience.
It is the first time that Burnett has ever been named the C-USA Player of the Week in a UCF career that has seen him earn first-team all-conference honors twice as a defensive back and three times as a punt returner.
Against the Bulls, Burnett racked up a total of 206 yards on punt and kickoff returns while also blocking a USF field goal. Immediately after the Bulls scored the game's first touchdown, Burnett returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown. It was his first career kickoff return touchdown, the eighth longest in school history, and it made him the first Knight to ever record both a punt and a kickoff return for a touchdown in his career. Burnett returned three kickoffs for 135 yards (45.0 avg.) on the night. He also returned three punts for 71 yards (23.7 avg.), including a season-long 35-yard scamper with 2:09 left in regulation that helped set up Michael Greco's 31-yard game-tying touchdown pass to Rocky Ross. Burnett also blocked his first career field goal, a 46-yard effort by Delbert Alvarado late in the third quarter which would have put the Knights down by 10 points.
In the game, Burnett extended his school and Conference USA career punt return yardage record to 1,080. He is also the active national leader in that category by a large margin.
The Knights stand at 1-1 on the season and have a bye week before travelling to Chestnut Hill, Mass. to face Boston College (1-1) on Sept. 20. The game will kickoff at 1:00 p.m. and be shown live on ESPNU.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.