#80 Donnie Jones Season 2024

Named to LSU’s “Next Great 25” – Team of the Past Quarter Century (1993-2017)
2004 NFL Draft: 7th-Round Pick by Seattle Seahawks (244th overall)
2004 Senior Bowl Participant
2003 Ray Guy Award Semifinalist
2003 SEC Academic Honor Roll
2002 Second-Team All SEC (Coaches)
2002 SEC Academic Honor Roll
2001 SEC Academic Honor Roll
2000 Freshman All-SEC (Coaches, Knoxville News)
2000 SEC Academic Honor Roll

CAREER
His 9,798 punting yards was the most in LSU history and eighth-most in SEC history … Punted and LSU record 233 times for the second-best career average in school history at 42.1 … Graduated with a degree in finace on Dec. 19, 2003.

SENIOR SEASON (2003)
Ray Guy Award semifinalist (nation’s top collegiate punter) … Served as LSU’s starting punter for the fourth-straight season … Averaged 42.4 yards on 65 punts with 22 inside the 20 and 16 fair catches … Had a season long of 67 yards … Ranked fourth in the SEC with a 42.4-yard average … Participated in the 2004 Senior Bowl following the conclusion of his LSU career … Named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll for a fourth-consecutive season.

JUNIOR SEASON (2002)
Ranked second in the SEC and fifth in the nation with a 44.0 punting average … Punting average was fourth-best in LSU history … Punted 64 times with 17 of those punts being downed inside the 20-yard line … Broke LSU’s modern-day school record with an 86-yard punt vs. Kentucky – the sixth-longest punt in SEC history … That punt, which traveled more than 70 yards in the air, pinned Kentucky on its 1-yard line … Averaged 52.8 yards on four punts against The Citadel, and averaged 50.2 yards on six punts against Kentucky … Averaged 40 yards or better in all but one game in 2002 … LSU ranked among the SEC leaders at 37.8 net yards per punt … The Tigers ranked first in the elague by allowing only 4.2 yards per punt return … Capped season with four punts for 48.8 yards against Texas in the Cotton Bowl … Punted in 12 of 13 games … Did not attempt a punt vs. Miami (Ohio).

SOPHOMORE SEASON (2001)
Served as LSU’s primary punter for the second-straight season … Averaged 43.7 yards on 47 punts during the regular season … Had great gang time, one of the key reasons the Tigers ranked third in the SEC in net punting with a 39.6 average … Had 13-of-47 punted downed inside the 20-yard line … Had a season-long punt of 68 yards against Kentucky … Career average of 40.6 yards on 104 punts … Averaged 39.4 yards on eight punts vs. Illinois in the Sugar Bowl …Had 3-of-8 punts vs. the Illini downed inside the 20-yard line, including one on the six … Set a pair of SEC Championship Game records in LSU’s 31-20 win over Tennessee … Had a 58-yard punt vs. the Vols, the longest in SEC Championship Game history … Also averaged 45.2 yards per punt, another championship game mark.

REDSHIRT FRESHMAN SEASON (2000)
LSU’s starting punter for every game in 2000 … The top-rated freshman punter in the SEC with a 38.1 average on 57 punts … Credited with 17 punts inside the 20 as well as nine fair catches and three touchbacks … Named LSU’s Special Teams Player of the Week against Kentucky after punting four times for a 43.0 average with a long punt of 51 yards …Credited with two punts insid ethe 20 vs. Kentucky and also had a pair of his punts fumbled by the Wildcats … Boomed a season-long punt of 69 yards against UAB … Had five punts inside the 20 against Houston.

FRESHMAN SEASON (1999)
Redshirted as a true freshman in 1999.

HIGH SCHOOL
Class 5A All-State selection … 4-5A All-District selection … Two-time member of The Advocate All-Metro team … In senior season, averaged 43.4 yards per punt on 26 attempts … An outstanding student-athlete in the classroom … Led team to second-place finish in District 4-5A and a state semifinal berth in the Class 5A playoffs before falling to eventual state champion West Monroe … Coached by Dale Weiner.

PERSONAL
Full name is Donald Scott Jones Jr. … Parents are Don and Amanda Jones … Has one sister, Mandy … Born July 5, 1980, in Baton Rouge.

Jones’ Career Highs

Punts: 8, six times (last: vs. Florida, Oct. 11, 2003)
Yards: 388 vs. Florida, Oct. 11, 2003
Average: 52.8 vs. The Citadel, Sept. 7, 2002
Long: 86 vs. Kentucky, Nov. 9, 2002

Jones Career Punting Statistics

* bowl stats not included per NCAA rules