2006—Former walk-on who was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist last fall and should be among the best in the Mountain West once again this year...named 2006 preseason All-American and first team all-MWC by CollegeFootballNews.com...ball explodes off his foot and he has made marked improvement in his consistency and accuracy...entering his second year as the Lobos' full-time kicker...backed up first team all-MWC honoree Wes Zunker in 2004...turned heads with his dramatic improvement in the spring of `04...displayed a tremendous boost in his leg strength and made significant progress in the weight room...underrated athlete who can dunk a basketball and owns the position vertical jump record at UNM (38")...has also shown excellent speed in kick-off coverage...was the Lobos' No. 1 kicker in eight games in 2002, his first season of football at any level...a soccer player in high school, he did not know how to put his pads on when he first joined the team...was encouraged to walk-on by then-starting QB Casey Kelly, who was dating Byrd's older sister, Kristen...Kristen and Casey have since married...redshirted the 2003 season.

2005— Erased the preseason question marks surrounding the UNM kicking game with his performance during the season...a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, who hit 13 of 15 field goals, including a career-long of 46 yards...connected on 8 of his last 9 FG attempts and 5 in a row in the last 6 games...first FG miss came on a career-long attempt of 51 yards at TCU and a low snap contributed to him pushing his third FG attempt a bit to the right at Wyoming...tied for 4th in the MWC in FGs/game while 86.7% accuracy was 3rd...4-5 on FGs of 40 yards or longer...5th among MWC kickers with 72 points scored...had hit 44 consecutive extra points, dating back to the 2002 season, before his first attempt at SDSU hit the upright...finished 33-38 on PATs...gave the Lobos a real weapon on kickoffs, hammering 31 balls into the end zone for touchbacks, 21 more than the team's 12-game total in 2004...47% of his kickoffs were unreturnable...vs. Colorado State...Hit a pair of FGs for the third straight game, converting attempts of 34 and 24 yards...also had 3 more touchbacks on his kickoffs...off target snaps contributed to a pair of missed extra points...at San Diego State...Notched his 3rd multiple FG game of the year, connecting on both attempts from 39 and 43 yards, respectively...43-yarder was the second longest of his career...missed his first PAT since 2002 (44 straight) when his first attempt glanced off the upright...was perfect on his final 5 however...also notched 2 more touchbacks and helped the coverage team limit SDSU to an 18.4 avg. on its 7 returns...at Wyoming...Turned in the second multiple FG game of his career, hitting 2 of his career-high 3 attempts and all 3 extra points...scored 9 of the Lobos' 27 points...knocked in a 24-yarder at the end of the 2nd half and was good from 30 midway though the 4th...a low snap contributed to him pushing his third FG attempt a bit to the right...booted 2 more touchbacks and made an outstanding TD-saving play, running down Cowboy star Jovon Bouknight on a long kick-off return...Wyoming's ensuing drive ended on downs...at TCU...Missed his first field goal of the year, a career-long 51-yard attempt that was pushed wide right late in the 3rd quarter, but did another tremendous job on kick-offs...booted 4 touchbacks into the end zone to limit the nation's leading returner, Cory Rodgers, to just a single run-back for a gain of 19 yards...hit all 4 PATs...at UTEP...Notched the first multiple field goal game of his career, converting both of his attempts in front of a hostile road crowd...nailed a career-long 46-yarder on the Lobos' first possession and had a 26-yard kick in the 4th quarter...also sent his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks 3 times, limiting speedy Miner return man Johnnie Lee Higgins to just a single return...vs. New Mexico State...Gave the Lobos a 24-0 halftime lead with his 37-yard field goal and was perfect on his 5 PATs...also booted 6 of his 7 kickoffs into or out of the end zone for touchbacks...only returned kick was a called pooch kick by the coaching staff...at Missouri...Silenced the boisterous crowd with a clutch 40-yard FG that gave UNM the lead for good, 38-35, with 4:22 left in a wild back-and-forth game...kick was the longest attempt of his career...also 6-6 on PATs, had 1 touchback and credited for 2 tackles on kickoff coverage...vs. UNLV...Booted a 37-yard FG, his first since Oct. 19, 2002, on the Lobos' first drive against UNLV...connected on all 3 PATs and sent 3 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

2004— Battled Wes Zunker for the starting job during the spring before eventually settling into the reserve role...appeared in two games, handling kick-off duties vs. Texas Tech and missing a 27-yard field goal attempt at New Mexico State.

2002—Won the starting kicking job prior to the UNLV game after Wes Zunker was sidelined with a groin injury...participated in walk-on tryouts in early August, but was not among the 105 players invited for two-a-day practices...rejoined the team at the start of the fall semester on Aug. 19...had never played organized football prior to his Lobo tryout and did not know how to put the pads in his pants or fit his helmet when he first suited up...played soccer at St. Pius X HS in Albuquerque...connected on 96.4% (27-28) of his PAT attempts, which was among the best in the MWC...was one of just two starting MWC kickers without a PAT miss in league play (21-21)...19 straight PAT conversions over the last 6 games after his lone miss...was 1-2 on field goals, missing a 34-yarder against UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl....knocked a 33-yard pooch punt vs. Utah State...Utah...perfect on all 6 PAT attempts, including both tries in overtime...kicked the game-tying extra point with 46 seconds left in regulation and connected on a 25-yard attempt to send the game to a second OT period...Utah State...kicked his first career field goal from 31 yards out at the end of the 1st half...hit 5-6 PAT attempts, but lone miss clinched the Aggies overtime victory...UNLV...3-3 on PATs in his first-ever appearance in an organized football game

High School —A 2002 graduate of St. Pius X HS in Albuquerque...did not play football...played soccer but did not letter

Personal—orn June 25, 1984, in Rock Springs, Wyo....age is 22...full name is Kenneth Ryan Byrd...son of Stephen and LouAnne...has three siblings, Andrea, Kristen and Michael...also has a niece, Christine...enjoys playing ping pong and golf...major is Criminology.