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#5 Ryan Donahue Season 2008-09

PositionP/PK
Weight180 lbs
Height6-3
ClassSo.
HometownEvergreen Park, Ill.
HometownEvergreen Park, Ill.
High SchoolSt. Rita

Hawk-Item – – Handled punting duties for all 51 games in his career . . . ranked third in the Big Ten and 15th in the nation with 44.6 average in 2010 . . . Iowa opponents averaged just 3.9 yards on 21 returns in 2010 . . . has five of longest 14 punts in school history, covering 82 (second), 76 (fifth), 73, twice (10th) and 71 (14th) yards.

2010 Honors – – One of three finalists for 2010 Ray Guy Award . . . honorable mention all-Big Ten by league coaches and media . . . second team all-Big Ten by Phil Steele’s College Football . . . selected to compete in East-West Shrine Game . . . national Punter of the Week vs. Wisconsin by College Football Performance Awards . . . honorable mention Punter of the Week vs. Northwestern and Minnesota by College Football Performance Awards . . . Reggie Roby Special Teams Award, Overall . . . 2010 Preseason Honors – – Named to preseason Watch List for Ray Guy Award . . . honorable mention all-America by NationalChamps.net . . . first team all-Big Ten by Blue Ribbon Yearbook . . . 2010 – – handled punting duties in all 13 games and for all 51 games in his career . . . averaged 44.6 yards on 54 punts, with 15 kicks over 50 yards . . . handled all punting duties in 37-7 opening win over Eastern Illinois and held for all placements . . . had one punt in opening win over 43 yards, and ball was downed inside the five-yard line . . . punted five times for an average of 48.4 yards in 35-7 win over Iowa State, with a long of 61 yards, with two punts inside the 20 . . . handled all punting in 34-27 loss at Arizona . . . averaged 46.9 yards on seven punts at Arizona, with a long of 60 yards and four punts inside the 20 . . . handled all punting in 45-0 win over Ball State . . . two punts for 41-yard average vs. Ball State, with one inside the 20 and allowing no returns . . . handled all punting in 24-3 win over Penn State . . . averaged 40.3 yards on seven punts, with three inside the 20 and a long of 53 yards . . . handled all punting in 38-28 win at Michigan . . . averaged 46.2 yards on five punts at Michigan, with a long of 56 yards and one punt inside the 20, allowing just three returns for five yards . . . handled all punting duties in 31-30 loss to Wisconsin . . . averaged 60.5 yards on two kicks covering 50 and 71 yards . . . 71 yard punt is fourth longest of his career and 13th longest in school history . . . handled all punting duties in 37-6 win over fifth-ranked Michigan State . . . averaged 38.8 yards on five punts, with a long of 45 vs. MSU, with three punts inside the 20 while allowing MSU zero return yards . . . handled all punting duties in 18-13 win at Indiana . . . two punts for a 48.5 average at Indiana, with a long of 53 and one kick inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties in 21-17 loss at Northwestern . . . averaged 42.9 yards on seven punts, with a long of 73 yards that ties as 10th longest in school history . . . had two punts inside the 20 and allowed no punt returns at Northwestern . . . handled all punting duties in 20-17 loss to Ohio State . . . averaged 41 yards on four punts, with a long of 52 yards and one kick inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties in 27-24 loss at Minnesota . . . averaged 47.5 yards on four punts at Minnesota, with a long of 62 yards and two punts inside the 20-yard line . . . handled all punting duties in 27-24 Insight Bowl win over 12th-ranked Missouri . . . averaged 44.7 yards on three punts vs. Missouri, with long of 47 yards, while allowing one return for minus two yards.

2009 Honors – – Second team all-Big Ten by Phil Steele’s College Football . . . honorable mention all-Big Ten by league coaches . . . Reggie Roby Special Teams Award, Overall . . . one of 10 finalists for 2008 Ray Guy Award . . . named Big Ten co-Special Teams Player of the Week for his play in win over Arizona. 2009 Pre-season Honors – – Named to pre-season Watch List for the 2009 Ray Guy Award . . . named pre-season third team all-Big Ten by Phil Steele’s College Football . . . 2009 – – handled all punting duties in 13 games, averaging 40.9 yards on 61 punts . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 17-16 win over Northern Iowa . . . averaged 42.8 yards on five punts vs. UNI, with a best of 56 yards . . . four of five punts were inside the 20 as UNI had just one return for minus two yards . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 35-3 win at Iowa State . . . averaged 39 yards on four punts vs. ISU, with a long of 57 yards and three punts inside the 20, allowing two returns for three yards . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 27-17 win over Arizona . . . averaged 51 yards on five punts vs. Arizona, with four punts of at least 50 yards and a best of 62 yards . . . had two kicks inside the 20 and allowed just one return for four yards to earn co-Special Teams Player of the Week honors . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 21-10 win at Penn State . . . averaged 35.6 yards on five punts, with a long of 48 yards . . . had two punts inside the 20, one leading to an Iowa safety . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 24-21 win over Arkansas State . . . averaged 38 yards on four punts, with a best of 51 yards, with two kicks inside the 20 as ASU had minus three yards on one return . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 30-28 win over Michigan . . . averaged 39.7 yards on six punts, with two inside the 20 and no touchbacks . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 20-10 win at Wisconsin . . . averaged 50 yards on three punts vs. Badgers, with a long of 58 yards and one kick inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 15-13 win at Michigan State . . . averaged 44.7 yards on six punts, with a best of 50 yards . . . three of six kicks were inside the 20, with no touchbacks . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 42-24 win over Indiana . . . averaged 27.5 yards on two punts in win over Hoosiers . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 17-10 loss to Northwestern . . . averaged 47 yards on five punts, with a long of 73 yards . . . three of five punts were inside the 20 and allowed Northwestern just one return for five yards . . . 73-yard punt vs. Northwestern tied as 10th longest in school history . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 27-24 overtime loss at Ohio State . . . averaged 37.3 yards on three punts, with a long of 42 yards . . . one of three punts was inside the 20 and OSU had just one return for nine yards . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 12-0 win over Minnesota . . . averaged 37.7 yards on nine punts vs. Gophers, with long of 51 yards and one kick inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 24-14 Orange Bowl win over Georgia Tech . . . averaged 36 yards on four punts vs. Georgia Tech, with three kicks inside the 20 and allowing just nine yards on two returns.

2008 – – Semi-finalist for Ray Guy Award . . . second team all-Big Ten by league coaches . . . honorable mention all-Big Ten by league media . . . third team all-Big Ten by Phil Steele[apos]s College Football . . . honorable mention Sophomore all-American by CollegeFootballNews.com . . . Special Teams Award, Specialist . . . Big Ten special teams Player of the Week vs. Minnesota . . . 2008 – – Handled all punting duties, averaging 41.6 yards on 50 punts . . . ranked seventh in the Big Ten and 35th nationally in punting average . . . listed as first team punter following spring practice, and is holder for all placements . . . saw action in 46-3 opening win over Maine . . . had just one punt in opening win, with a 36-yard kick that was downed at the three-yardline with no return . . . saw action in 42-0 win over Florida International, averaging 36.5 yards on two punts and holding for all PAT and field goal attempts . . . both punts in win over FIU were inside the 20, with a best of 40 yards . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 17-5 win over Iowa State . . . averaged 37.5 yards on four punts vs. ISU, with a long of 64 yards . . . allowed ISU no yards on no punt returns . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 21-20 loss at Pittsburgh . . . averaged 41.6 yards on seven punts at Pittsburgh, with a long of 59 yards and two inside the 20 . . . allowed just two punt returns for minus five yards . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 22-17 loss to Northwestern . . . averaged 43 yards on three punts vs. Northwestern, with a best of 55 yards . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 16-13 loss at Michigan State . . . averaged 53 yards on three punts at MSU, with a long of 56 yards, while allowing MSU no punt returns . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 45-9 win at Indiana . . . punted four times for a 44 yard average at Indiana, with a long of 56 yards and three of four kicks inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 38-16 win over Wisconsin . . . averaged 36.8 yards on eight punts vs. Wisconsin, with a long of 41 yards, three of eight punts inside the 20 and no touchbacks . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 27-24 loss at Illinois . . . averaged 44.6 yards on five punts, with a long of 51 yards and two of five kicks inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 24-23 win over third-ranked Penn State . . . averaged 44.3 yards on three punts, with a long of 55 and two of three punts inside the 20, allowing Penn State no punt returns . . . held for game-winning field goal with one second remaining . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 22-17 win over Purdue . . . averaged 33 yards on four punts on very windy day, allowing no Purdue punt returns . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 55-0 win at Minnesota . . . averaged 48.5 yards on four punts, with a long of 57 yards and one kick inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties and held for all placements in 31-10 Outback Bowl win over South Carolina . . . averaged 44 yards on two punts vs. South Carolina, with a long of 51 yards . . . team allowed just 12 returns for 60 yards in 13 games.

2007 Honors – – Named honorable mention all-Big Ten by league coaches and media . . . named honorable mention Freshman all-American by The Sporting News . . . named to Freshman all-Big Ten team selected by The Sporting News . . . earned Special Teams Award, Specialist . . . 2007 – – Listed as first team punter following spring practice and is listed as holder for placements . . . handled all punting duties in opening win over Northern Illinois, along with holding for PAT and field goal attempts . . . punted eight times for 40.1 average, with a best of 57 yards and three punts inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties in win over Syracuse. along with holding for all five PAT attempts . . . punted four times for 31.8 average, with a long of 49 yards and one kick inside the 20 and one touchback, allowing Syracuse no punt returns . . . handled all punting duties in loss at Iowa State . . . averaged 35.8 yards on six punts at Iowa State, with a long of 45 and one touchback . . . handled all punting duties in loss at Wisconsin . . . averaged 32.6 yards on nine punts, with a long of 46 yards and four kicks inside the 20 as Wisconsin had just one return for negative two yards . . . had one attempt partially blocked . . . also held for three field goal attempts and one PAT attempt . . . handled all punting duties in loss to Indiana . . . averaged 38.4 yards on five punts, with a long of 44 and two inside the 20 . . . allowed Indiana no yards on punt returns and also held on two field goal and three PAT attempts . . . handled all punting duties in loss at Penn State . . . averaged 45.2 yards on 11 punts, matching a career-best with a 57-yarder . . . four of 11 kicks were inside the 20, with two touchbacks . . . handled all punting duties in win over 18th-ranked Illinois . . . averaged 32 yards on three punts vs. Illinois, with two of three inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties in loss at Purdue . . . averaged 42.4 yards on nine punts, including career-long of 68 yards and two punts inside the 20 . . . handled all punting duties in double OT win over Michigan State . . . enjoyed best day of career in win over MSU with 51.6 average on eight punts . . . four of eight punts covered at least 50 yards, including a career-best 82 yard punt that ranks as second longest punt in Iowa history, one yard shy of school record . . . handled all punting duties in win at Northwestern . . . averaged 43.6 yards on 10 punts at Northwestern, including a best of 76 yards and three punts inside the 20 . . . 76-yard punt ties as fifth longest in school history . . . handled all punting duties in win over Minnesota, averaging 41.4 yards on seven punts, with a best of 54 yards . . . handled all punting duties in loss to Western Michigan, averaging 39.7 yards on six punts while allowing just one return for seven yards.

2006 – – Redshirted.

High school honors – – First team USA Today All-American . . . participated in the US Army All-American Game . . . conference offensive MVP as a senior . . . first team all-state and all-conference as a senior . . . second team Chicago Tribune all-state as a junior . . . Career – – holds state record for longest punt in a playoff game (90 yards) and most PATs . . . holds school and conference records for longest field goal (55 yards) . . . made 18-of-23 field goals and 147-154 PATs in his career . . . had a career punting average of 42.0 . . . 80% of kickoffs during his senior year were touchbacks . . . 12-16 in field goals and 49-52 in PATs as a senior . . . three-year letterman in football . . . two-year letterman in volleyball . . . also lettered in basketball and baseball.

Personal – – Born 3/17/88 . . . Interdepartmental Studies (Recreation Management) major . . . parents are Claire and Tim Donahue . . . high school coach was Todd Kuska.

Career Bests
Punts:  11 at Penn State, 10/6/07
Average:  60.5 vs. Wisconsin, 10/23/10
Long:  82 vs. Michigan State, 10/27/07
Inside 20:  4, fourtimes, last at Arizona, 9/18/10

Career Statistics

Punting No. Yds. Avg. Lng In-20 TB Blk
Freshman 86 3,533 41.1 82 24 15 1
Sophomore 50 2,078 41.6 64 19 7 1
Junior 61 2,496 40.9 73 27 5 0
Senior 54 2,408 44.6 73 22 12 1
Career 251 10,515 41.9 82 92 39 3