Dec. 12, 2008

Two Conference USA players were among the players listed on the 2008 Walter Camp Football Foundation All-American team, as announced by the organization. Rice senior WR Jarett Dillard and UCF senior kick returner Joe Burnett were both named as second team All-American selections.

This is the second time in three years that Dillard has been a member of the Camp All America second team. He was honored as a sophomore in 2006 and was one of five members of the second team who were invited to participate in the Foundation's All-America weekend in January.

Heading into his final game in the Texas Bowl on December 30, Dillard holds the NCAA career record for touchdown catches (59) and the career record for games with a touchdown catch (37). He and Chase Clement have also set the NCAA record for the most career touchdown passes by the same passer and receiver (50). Dillard also holds the Conference USA career record for receiving yards (4,052) which ranks ninth on the NCAA career list. His 284 career receptions are second in C-USA history and are tied for 11th in NCAA history.

Dillard leads the nation with 19 touchdown catches this season. He is fourth in receiving yards (1,224), sixth in receiving yards per game (102.0) and eighth in scoring (9.5 points per game).

Earlier this week, Burnett was named the Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Year and was also named first-team All-C-USA as a defensive back, punt returner and kick returner, marking the first time that a player has been named to the first team at three different positions. Burnett completes a career sweep of the first-team All-C-USA punt returner titles, winning the award for each of the past four years (2005-08). He also earned first-team recognition as a defensive back in 2005 and 2007, giving him a total of eight career first-team all-conference awards.

Burnett completed his extraordinary UCF career as the school's record holder in numerous major categories including career interceptions (16) and punt return yards (1,304). Burnett is the Conference USA career record holder for most punt return yards and ranks 19th in NCAA history in that category. He stands second in C-USA annals with his 16 career interceptions. He scored a total of five career special teams touchdowns including a UCF-record three on punt returns.

In 2008, Burnett is the only player in the nation to rank in the top 20 of both kickoff and punt returns, presently ranking seventh in kickoff returns and 11th in kickoff returns. He led C-USA in both disciplines. With 102.17 yards per game, he will likely become just the third player since 2000 to finish the season ranked in the top 100 nationally in all-purpose yardage despite not gaining any of those yards either rushing or receiving. This fall, Burnett, in his first season as a kickoff returner, ran two back for touchdowns, coming against in-state foes USF and Miami, both of which were ranked at various points this year.

Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp - a former Yale University athlete and football coach - is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation (www.waltercamp.org) - a New Haven-based all-volunteer group - was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.