Jan. 9, 2012

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Wyoming freshman cornerback Blair Burns was named on Monday, Jan. 9 to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-America Team.

Burns was one of only two freshmen from the Mountain West Conference to be selected to the team. The other Mountain West freshman was wide receiver Matt Miller of Boise State.

Burns was also one of only four players who were selected from non-automatic qualifying BCS conferences. The others were: Miller of Boise State, linebacker Jeremy Grove of East Carolina and punt returner Scott Harding of Hawaii.

Burns, who is from Plano, Texas, started the final nine games of the season at cornerback for Wyoming.

He led Wyoming in interceptions, with four on the season. His four interceptions also tied him for No. 2 in the Mountain West Conference and No. 23 in the nation.

Burns added four pass breakups on the season, to rank No. 4 in the Mountain West in passes defended.

The freshman was credited with 48 total tackles on the season, 35 of them solo stops. He recovered one fumble and had 1.5 tackles for loss.

This is the third Freshman All-America team that Burns has been named to this season. In December, Burns was named to the CBSSports.com Freshman All-America First Team and was selected by CollegeFootballNews.com as an Honorable Mention Freshman All-Ameircan.

Burns was also named an Honorable Mention All-Mountain West selection at the conclusion of the season by conference head coaches and media.

The link to the 2011 FWAA Freshman All-America team can be found here.

This year's team includes:

Defense
Pos., Player, School, Ht., Wt., Hometown
DB - •Blair Burns, Wyoming 5-10 170 Plano, Texas
DB - Ibraheim Campbell, Northwestern 5-11 205 Philadelphia, Pa.
DB - •Quandre Diggs, Texas 5-10 200 Angleton, Texas
DB - Merrill Noel, Wake Forest 5-10 180 Pahokee, Fla.
DB - •Eric Rowe, Utah 6-1 185 Spring, Texas
DL - •Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina 6-6 254 Rock Hill, S.C.
DL - •Timmy Jernigan, Florida State 6-3 297 Lake City, Fla.
DL - •Aaron Lynch, Notre Dame 6-6 265 Cape Coral, Fla.
DL - Marcus Rush, Michigan State 6-2 250 Cincinnati, Ohio
LB - Dion Bailey, USC 6-0 200 Lakewood, Calif.
LB - Jeremy Grove, East Carolina 6-1 230 Frederick, Md.
LB - •A.J. Johnson, Tennessee 6-3 245 Gainesville, Ga.

Offense
Pos., Player, School, Ht., Wt., Hometown
QB - Sean Mannion, Oregon State 6-5 218 Pleasanton, Calif.
RB - Giovani Bernard, North Carolina 5-10 205 Davie, Fla.
RB - Lyle McCombs, Connecticut 5-8 172 Staten Island, N.Y.
WR - Matt Miller, Boise State 6-3 213 Helena, Mont.
WR - •Marqise Lee, USC 6-0 190 Inglewood, Calif.
WR - •Sammy Watkins, Clemson 6-1 200 Fort Myers, Fla.
AP - •De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon 5-9 173 Los Angeles, Calif.
OL - •Reese Dismukes, Auburn 6-3 300 Spanish Fort, Ala.
OL - B.J. Finney, Kansas State 6-4 297 Andale, Kan.
OL - Chaz Green, Florida 6-5 306 Tampa, Fla.
OL - •Kaleb Johnson, Rutgers 6-4 298 Jacksonville, Fla.
OL - Jake Smith, Louisville 6-4 315 Jacksonville, Ala.

Specialists
Pos., Player, School, Ht., Wt., Hometown
P - Brad Wing, LSU 6-3 184 Melbourne, Australia
K - Michael Hunnicutt, Oklahoma 6-0 175 Richardson, Texas
PR - •Scott Harding, Hawaii 5-11 195 Brisbane, Australia
KR - •Tyler Lockett, Kansas State 5-11 170 Tulsa, Okla.

First-Year Head Coach
Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia

• Denotes true freshman

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