2011 Football Roster
Roster
Cunningham, B.J.

Jersey Number 3
B.J. Cunningham
- Position:
- WR
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 215
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Westerville, Ohio
- High School:
- Westerville South
Bio
Bio in PDF Format
Game-by-Game Statistics: 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011
CAREER NOTES: Finished his Spartan career as the school's all-time leader in receptions (218) and receiving yards (3,086); also ranks second in TD receptions with 25 . . . played in 51 career games, including 42 starts . . . closed his career ranked seventh in Big Ten history in receptions and ninth in receiving yards . . . had 10 career 100-yard receiving games, third most in MSU history . . . selected in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft (No. 183 overall) by the Miami Dolphins. 2011 SEASON (SENIOR): Voted Most Valuable Player by his teammates . . . second-team All-Big Ten selection (coaches and media) . . . named to ESPN.com and Yahoo! Sports All-Big Ten first team . . . named All-American by Phil Steele (fourth team) and SI.com (honorable mention) . . . tied a Spartan single-season record with 79 receptions (Devin Thomas, 2007) . . . tied for first in the Big Ten with 12 touchdown receptions, which tied for third most in an MSU single-season . . . ranked third in the Big Ten and 17th in the FBS in receiving yards (93.3 ypg.) . . . ranked fourth in the Big Ten in receptions (79; 5.6 pg.) . . . had a career-high 1,306 receiving yards, which ranked third most in an MSU season . . . became one of just five Spartan receivers to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season (Charles Rogers, Devin Thomas, Plaxico Burress, Courtney Hawkins) . . . had a school-record eight 100-yard receiving games; that mark also tied for first in the Big Ten this season (Marvin McNutt, Iowa) . . . 55 of his 79 receptions (70 percent resulted in either a first down or a touchdown . . . ranked second in the Big Ten with 17 'clutch' catches during the regular season (receptions on third down or fourth down that resulted in TD or first down) . . . caught seven passes for 66 yards in the win over No. 18 Georgia in the 2012 Outback Bowl; tied MSU's single-season reception record with a 22-yard catch in the fourth quarter . . . named National Wide Receiver of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards after recording a career-high three touchdown receptions in the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin . . . had five catches for 115 yards against the Badgers, establishing a school record with his eighth 100-yard receiving game of the season . . . scored his first TD in the Big Ten Championship Game on a 30-yard pass from Kirk Cousins on a fourth-and-inches play in the second quarter; for his second TD, caught a lateral from Keith Nichol at the 7-yard line and ran it in for a touchdown; on his third touchdown, a 44-yarder in the third quarter, he became MSU's all-time leader in receiving yards, passing Andre Rison . . . caught six passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns (33 and 29 yards) at Northwestern . . . had six receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns (63 yards and 7 yards) on Senior Day vs. Indiana . . . had two touchdown receptions at Iowa (6 yards in first quarter; 22 yards in second quarter) and four catches for 46 yards overall in win over the Hawkeyes . . . had three receptions for 104 yards against Minnesota, including a season-long 69-yard reception from Cousins in the first quarter helped set up MSU's first touchdown . . . saw his streak with at least one reception in 41 consecutive regular-season games come to an end at Nebraska . . . had a game-high 102 receiving yards on six catches, including a 35-yard TD reception on a fourth-and-2 play in the second quarter, in the victory over No. 4 Wisconsin; also had a diving catch on a key two-point conversion in the fourth quarter . . . had 154 receiving yards - the most ever by a Spartan against Ohio State - on nine catches, including a 33-yard touchdown, in the 10-7 win over the Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium; named Spartan Offensive Player of the Week for his performance at OSU and was also selected as a game captain against the Buckeyes . . . had three catches for 67 yards vs. Central Michigan, including a 54-yard grab in the first quarter that set up MSU's first touchdown . . . recorded career highs in receptions (12) and yards (158) at Notre Dame; the 12 catches tied for fourth most in a game by a Spartan wide receiver (record: 14 by Matt Trannon vs. Eastern Michigan in 2006); the 158 receiving yards were the most for a Spartan since Blair White had 186 yards against Northwestern in 2009, and the second most for a Spartan wide receiver against Notre Dame (Charles Rogers, 175 yards in 2002) . . . earned honorable mention National College Football Performance Awards Wide Receiver of the Week accolades for his outing against the Fighting Irish . . . became MSU's all-time receptions leader with an acrobatic 7-yard catch in the first quarter against Florida Atlantic; had five catches for 73 yards total vs. the Owls . . . recorded then-career highs in receptions (9) and receiving yards (130) in the season opener against Youngstown State, including an 18-yard TD catch in the third quarter; named Spartan Offensive Player of the Week. 2010 SEASON (JUNIOR): Honorable mention All-Big Ten selection by the media . . . appeared in all 12 regular-season games, including seven starts (six at flanker and one at split end) . . . missed the 2011 Capital One Bowl vs. No. 15 Alabama with a broken foot he suffered in bowl practice . . . his career-high nine touchdown receptions led the team and tied for the fourth-best single-season in MSU history . . . ranked second on the team in both receptions (career high 50) and receiving yards (611) . . . his 50 catches (tied for No. 16) also rank among the top single-season totals in Spartan history . . . finished eighth in the Big Ten in receptions, averaging 4.2 per game . . . 34 of his 50 receptions (68 percent) resulted in either a TD or a first down . . . set a career high with two TD receptions at Penn State (8 and 24 yards from Kirk Cousins), as MSU clinched a share of the 2010 Big Ten Championship with a 28-22 victory in State College . . . caught six passes for 51 yards, including a 5-yard TD grab early in the fourth quarter, in the comeback win over Purdue . . . led team with four catches for 40 yards vs. Minnesota . . . caught four passes for 36 yards at No. 18 Iowa, including a 6-yard TD grab . . . posted career highs in receptions (8) and receiving yards (113) in the comeback win at Northwestern, including an acrobatic game-winning 9-yard catch in the back of the end zone with 2:00 left . . . led team with 83 receiving yards on three catches vs. Illinois, including a 48-yard TD grab . . . caught five passes for 40 yards in victory at No. 18 Michigan . . . his 1-yard TD reception from Cousins on a fourth-and-goal play late in the fourth quarter gave MSU a 34-24 lead over No. 11 Wisconsin . . . hauled in four passes for 43 yards vs. Northern Colorado . . . recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game with seven catches for 101 yards, including a 24-yard TD reception from Cousins, in an overtime win over Notre Dame . . . scored on a 30-yard strike from Cousins in the second quarter vs. Florida Atlantic at Ford Field. 2009 SEASON (SOPHOMORE): Saw action in 12 games and started 10 games at X receiver . . . team's second-leading receiver with 48 receptions for 641 yards and four touchdowns . . . averaged 53.4 receiving yards per game . . . has 89 catches for 1,169 yards in 25 career games . . . named to the midseason All-Big Ten third team by Phil Steele . . . 27 of his 48 catches resulted in a touchdown or a first down . . . had nine catches of 20-plus yards . . . led team with four catches for 39 yards vs. Penn State . . . recorded a career-high 92 receiving yards on three catches at Purdue, including a career-long 73-yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter . . . had 83 receiving yards on five receptions, including a 49-yard catch, at Minnesota . . . caught three passes for 33 yards vs. Iowa . . . hauled in five catches for 49 yards vs. Northwestern . . . produced 73 receiving yards on five receptions in the win over Michigan . . . caught five passes for 54 yards at Wisconsin, including an acrobatic 20-yard TD grab in the third quarter . . . tallied a career-high seven receptions for 74 yards at Notre Dame . . . recorded 55 receiving yards on four catches vs. Central Michigan, including a 7-yard TD in the fourth quarter . . . had three catches for 62 yards in the season opener vs. Montana State . . . caught his first-career TD pass, a 29-yard grab in the first quarter against the Bobcats. 2008 SEASON (RED-SHIRT FRESHMAN): Saw action in all 13 games in 2008, including 12 starts at flanker . . . ranked second on the team in receptions (41) and third in receiving yards (528) . . . caught at least one pass in 12 games . . . 31 of his 41 receptions (76 percent) resulted in a first down, including six gains of 20 or more yards . . . his 31 first-down catches led the team . . . rushed four times for 56 yards (14.0 avg.) . . . recorded a career-high six receptions for 52 yards vs. Georgia in the 2009 Capital One Bowl . . . five of his six catches against the Bulldogs produced first downs . . . had five receptions each vs. California (63 yards), Purdue (63) and Penn State (43) . . . had one catch for 12 yards on a key third-down play in the third quarter at Michigan that kept the game-tying TD-scoring drive alive . . . caught four passes each against Iowa (season-high 76 yards) and Northwestern (44) . . . his season-long 52-yard reception in the first quarter vs. Iowa set up MSU's only TD of the game . . . led MSU with 76 receiving yards on three receptions vs. Eastern Michigan, including an acrobatic one-handed catch for 46 yards that led to a TD . . . caught five passes for 63 yards in his Spartan debut at California. 2007 SEASON: Redshirted . . . named Scout Team Offensive Player of the Week twice (vs. Notre Dame, vs. Ohio State) . . . named Scout Team Special Teams Player of the Week vs. Purdue. HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Selected Ohio's MVP in the June 2007 Big 33 Football Classic after catching four passes for 116 yards . . . named to PrepStar's All-Midwest Team . . . ranked among Ohio's top 50 seniors by Scout.com (No. 34) and Rivals.com (No. 38) . . . earned special mention on the Associated Press Division I All-Ohio team in 2006 . . . two-time all-district and all-conference selection . . . two-year starter for Coach Rocky Pentello at Westerville (Ohio) South High School . . . had 45 receptions for 770 yards (17.1 avg.) and nine touchdowns as a senior . . . caught seven passes for 116 yards and three scores vs. Dublin Coffman . . . scored on a 42-yard pass play and intercepted two passes vs. Mount Vernon . . . had seven catches for 140 yards and two TDs vs. Grove City . . . caught 45 passes for 700 yards (15.6 avg.) and 15 TDs as a junior . . . had 90 career receptions for 1,470 yards (16.3 avg.) and 24 TDs . . . three-year starter for Coach Ed Calo on the Wildcats' basketball team . . . had a 30-point, 16-rebound effort vs. Mount Vernon in 2006-07 . . . selected Ohio Capital Conference Central Division Player of the Year in 2005-06 . . . also participated in track and field and soccer . . . son of Brian and Kim Cunningham . . . born May 29, 1989 . . . majoring in communication. CUNNINGHAM'S CAREER STATISTICS
Game-by-Game Statistics: 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011
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RUSHING G Att Yds TD Lg Avg/C Avg/G2008................ 13 4 56 0 29 14.0 4.32009................ 12 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.02010................ 12 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.02011................ 14 3 26 0 24 8.7 1.9TOTAL............... 51 8 82 0 29 10.2 1.6TOTAL OFFENSE G Rush Pass Total Avg/G2008................ 13 56 0 56 4.32009................ 12 0 0 0 0.02010................ 12 0 0 0 0.02011................ 14 26 0 26 1.9TOTAL............... 51 82 0 82 1.6RECEIVING G Rec Yds TD Lg Rec/G Avg/C Avg/G2008................ 13 41 528 0 52 3.2 12.9 40.62009................ 12 48 641 4 73 4.0 13.4 53.42010................ 12 50 611 9 48 4.2 12.2 50.92011................ 14 79 1306 12 69 5.6 16.5 93.3TOTAL............... 51 218 3086 25 73 4.3 14.2 60.5SCORING G TD Rush Pass Retn PAT 2PAT FG Total Avg/G2008................ 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.02009................ 12 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 24 2.02010................ 12 9 0 9 0 0 0 0 54 4.52011................ 14 12 0 12 0 0 1 0 74 5.3TOTAL............... 51 25 0 25 0 0 1 0 152 3.0ALL PURPOSE G Rush Rec PR KR IR Total Avg/G2008................ 13 56 528 0 0 0 584 44.92009................ 12 0 641 0 0 0 641 53.42010................ 12 0 611 0 0 0 611 50.92011................ 14 26 1306 0 0 0 1332 95.1TOTAL............... 51 82 3086 0 0 0 3168 62.1TACKLES G UA A Total TFL-Yds PD FF FR Blkd2008................ 13 1 0 1 0.0-0 0 0 0 02009................ 12 0 0 0 0.0-0 0 0 0 02010................ 12 0 0 0 0.0-0 0 0 0 02011................ 14 2 0 2 0.0-0 0 1 0 0TOTAL............... 51 3 0 3 0.0-0 0 1 0 0
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