#56 Robert Balkunas 6-1 / 290 / DT Senior Boca Raton, Fla. Boca Raton HS Lackawanna JC
PRESEASON 2010: Named to the preseason All-Big South team by Phil Steele Magazine.
2009 (Jr.): Played and started 10 contests as a junior, missing the Towson contest ... Tallied 33 stops, including 3.5 TFL ... Tallied a career-high five tackles versus Gardner-Webb, tying the mark the following week versus Presbyterian ... Registered 1.5 TFL at Kent State, as well as getting 1.5 versus Gardner-Webb.
2008 (So.): Played in 12 games, making nine starts, and earning his first Coastal Carolina letter ... Recorded 17 total tackles, including 5.0 tackles for loss, a half sack and one fumble recovery ... Recorded three tackles each against Colgate, Towson and Liberty ... Had 2.5 tackles for loss against Colgate and 1.5 tackles for loss, including 0.5 sack, against Towson ... Also broke up three passes on the year.
Prior to Coastal Carolina: Walked on and redshirted at Florida State as a freshman ... Played in nine games for Lackawanna in 2007, recording 45 tackles, five sacks and two fumble recoveries ... Strongest member of the football program at Lackawanna with a 725-pound squat, a 415-pound bench press, and 340-pound power clean while also posting 32 reps of 225 on the bench press ... High School: Named to the Palm Beach Post and Sun Sentinel First Team All-County his final two seasons at Boca Raton ... Selected to the Outback All-Star Game his senior year after totaling 52 tackles and six at Boca Raton ... Was also honored as a Second Team All-County and All-League as a sophomore.
Personal: Son of Robert and Vicktoria Balkunas.
Balkunas[apos] Career Defensive Statistics
GP-GS Solo Asst. Total TFL-YDS Sack-YDS Int-YDS PBU FR FF BLK
2008 12- 9 6 11 17 5.0- 9 0.5- 1 0-0 3 1-0 0 0
2009 10-10 7 26 33 3.5- 4 0.0- 0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0
Total 22-19 13 37 50 8.5-13 0.5- 1 0-0 3 1-0 0 0
CAREER GAME-BY-GAME TACKLES (solo-asst-tot)
2008: Penn State 0-0-0; Colgate 2-1-3; Monmouth 1-0-1; Towson 1-2-3; North Carolina A&T 1-0-1; Liberty 1-2-3; VMI 0-2-2; North Carolina Central 0-1-1; Stony Brook 0-1-1; Gardner-Webb 0-1-1; Presbyterian 0-0-0; Charleston Southern 0-1-1.
2009: Kent State 1-3-4; Monmouth 0-3-3; Towson DNP; North Carolina A&T 1-1-2; VMI 0-4-4; Liberty 1-1-2; Stony Brook 0-2-2; Clemson 0-3-3; Gardner-Webb 3-2-5; Presbyterian 0-5-5; Charleston Southern 1-2-3.
