Odrick, Penn State rake in the All-Big Ten honors

Senior defensive tackle Jared Odrick was voted the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year, and Defensive Lineman of the Year by the conference coaches. Odrick was just one of six Nittany Lions selected First Team All-Big Ten, including Daryll Clark, Evan Royster, Stefen Wisniewski, Dennis Landolt and Navorro Bowman. Penn State tied Iowa for the most first-team selections.

Breakdown of Penn State's 2009 All-Big Ten selections:

OFFENSE

COACHES FIRST TEAM: Daryll Clark, Evan Royster, Stefen Wisniewski, Dennis Landolt
COACHES SECOND TEAM: None

MEDIA FIRST TEAM: Daryll Clark, Evan Royster, Stefen Wisniewski
MEDIA SECOND TEAM: Dennis Landolt

DEFENSE

COACHES FIRST TEAM: Jared Odrick, Navorro Bowman
COACHES SECOND TEAM: Sean Lee, Jeremy Boone

MEDIA FIRST TEAM: Navorro Bowman
MEDIA SECOND TEAM: Jared Odrick, Josh Hull, Sean Lee, Jeremy Boone

HONORABLE MENTIONS

COACHES: Josh Hull, Andrew Quarless
MEDIA: Drew Astorino, Jack Crawford, D'Anton Lynn, Derek Moye, Ollie Ogbu, Andrew Quarless

Link: Big Ten Release

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2008 All-Big Ten Selections

Penn State had a fantastic showing on both the media and coaches' 2008 All-Big Ten teams. I would take some issue with a few selections, some you probably wouldn't expect. But first, the 2008 All-Big Ten Teams:

I actually don't think Derrick Williams should have made the first team as a receiver. The conference should select a return specialist, or all-purpose player. Then I would tab Williams as the best in the Big Ten. But as a receiver, Deon Butler should have gotten some love. You would think after his final performance (3 TD catches vs MSU) of a great career, the coaches and media would have selected him to at least the second team. I also am very surprised that Anthony Scirrotto made the first team, but Lydell Sargeant didn't (he made the media team, but not the coaches). HONORABLE MENTION, COACHES: PENN STATE: Jeremy Boone, Tony Davis, Dennis Landolt, Jordan Norwood, Mark Rubin, Tyrell Sales, Lydell Sargeant.

The media selections seemed a bit more on the mark, especially with the offense. Williams and Butler were both on the second team, which is fine by me. But on defense, I think Jared Odrick deserved the nod for first team honors. Both Scirrotto and Sargeant made second team defense. HONORABLE MENTION, MEDIA: PENN STATE: Jeremy Boone, Tony Davis, Josh Gaines, Dennis Landolt, Mark Rubin, Stefen Wisniewski.

One more thing you may be surprised to read here, but I wouldn't have been too surprised, or upset, if Joe Paterno did not get coach of the year. I mean, sure, my homer vote would have gone to Paterno, but if I were to be truly unbiased it would have been tough to pick.

My other top choices were, in voting order:
1) Tim Brewster, Minnesota;
2) Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern;
3) Mark D'Antonio, Michigan State.

Link: 2008 All-Big Ten Teams, via BigTen.cstv.org

*Ed.-Check back in a little while, and I'll have my top 25 posted.

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News and Notes: JoePa's new hip, all-Big Ten, and coming attractions

• Looks like Joe Paterno is doing alright after the hip replacement, and will be back up for practice... on Monday! Wow, this guy is a freaking machine. Just give him a tune-up every ten years and he's good to go.

• The All-Big Ten football teams will be announced tonight on the Big Ten Network. Can't wait. I might do an open thread, since it worked out very well for the game. But I may not.

• As for the rest of today, I have a lot on my plate at work. But don't sweat, it won't stop me from releasing my Week 14 Top 25. It might be up soon, but could also be up later. So check back throughout the day. Also, I'm going to work on my PSU-MSU full review tonight, for posting first thing tomorrow.

• This week I'm planning on a lot of housekeeping around Zombie Nation. I'll be traveling down to Kentucky for Thanksgiving, so after Tuesday night, posting will be light. But I'll try to stay on top of things this week, but mostly updating the archives, link lists, etc.

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Big Ten Bloggers All-Big Ten Team

Again I want to thank LTP for all its hard work in putting this together. Getting 40+ college football bloggers to do anything consistently is enough of a challenge. Last week, we had the BTB Conference Projection. Next week, we'll get into the real juicy stuff, like best games, awards and such. So, without delay, here's the 2008 Big Ten Bloggers All-Big Ten Team:

1st Team All Big Ten Offense
QB - Curtis Painter, Purdue
RB - Beanie Wells, Ohio State
RB - Javon Ringer, Michigan State
WR - Brian Robiskie, Ohio State
WR - Arrelious Benn, Illinois
WR - Greg Orton, Purdue
TE/SB - Travis Beckum, Wisconsin
OT - Alex Boone, Ohio State
OG - Steve Rehring, Michigan
C - AQ Shipley, Penn State
OG - Kraig Urbik, Wisconsin
OT - Eric Vanden Heuvel, Wisconsin

1st Team All-Big Ten Defense
DE- Greg Middleton, Indiana
DE - Maurice Evans, Penn State
DT - Terrance Taylor, Michigan
DT - Mitch King, Iowa
LB - James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
LB - Marcus Freeman, Ohio State
LB - Anthony Heygood, Purdue
S - Anthony Scirrotto, Penn State
S - Anderson Russell, Ohio State
CB - Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State
CB - Vontae Davis, Illinois

K - Austin Starr, Indiana
PR - Marcus Thigpen, Indiana
P - Jeremy Boone, Penn State

Here's my ballot. We were originally going to include both first and second team, but realized it would be just too complicated. So LTP just took whoever received the most first-team votes, and went with that player. Simple enough. My picks:

1st Team offense
QB Curtis Painter, PU
RB Beanie Wells, OSU
RB Javon Ringer, MSU
WR Brian Robiskie, OSU
WR Arrelious Benn, Ill
WR Eric Decker, Minny
TE Travis Beckum, UW
C AQ Shipley
OG Kraig Urbik, UW
OG Seth Olsen, UI
OT Alex Boone, OSU
OT Eric Vanden Heuvel, UW

2nd Team offense
QB Todd Boeckman, OSU
RB PJ Hill, UW
RB Evan Royster, PSU
WR Greg Orton, PU
WR Kyle Jefferson, UW
WR Deon Butler, PSU
TE Andrew Quarless, PSU
C Rafael Eubanks, UI
OG Rich Ohrnberger, PSU
OG Steve Rehring, UM
OT Sean Sester, PU
OT Stephen Schilling, UM

1st Team Defense
DL Maurice Evans, DE PSU
DL Mitch King, DT UI
DL Matt Kroul, DT UI
DL Greg Middleton, DE IU
LB James Laurinaitis, OSU
LB Marcus Freeman, OSU
LB DeAndre Levy, UW
S Anthony Scirrotto, PSU
S Anderson Russell, OSU
CB Vonte Davis, Ill
CB Malcolm Jenkins, OSU

2nd Team Defense
DL Matt Shaughnessy, DE UW
DL John Gill, DT NU
DL Terrance Taylor, DT UM
DL Tim Jamison, DE UM
LB Martez Wilson, Ill
LB Anthony Heygood, PU
LB Greg Jones, MSU
S Austin Thomas, IU
S Shane Carter, UW
CB AJ Wallace, PSU
CB Morgan Trent, UM

1st Team
K Austin Starr, IU
P Jeremy Boone, PSU
KR Marcus Thigpen, IU
PR Derrick Williams, PSU

2nd Team
K Ryan Preorius, OSU
P AJ Trapasso, OSU
KR AJ Wallace
PR David Gilreath

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All-Big Ten Teams, Awards

From BigTen.org:

Big Ten Announces 2007 Football All-Conference Teams and Individual Honors
Ohio State's Laurinaitis and Gholston Named Defensive Player and Lineman of the Year, respectively; Illinois' Mendenhall, Benn and Zook Sweep Offensive Player, Freshman and Coach of the Year Honors; Michigan's Long Repeats as Offensive Lineman of the Year

Nov. 19, 2007

Park Ridge, Ill. - The Big Ten announced the 2007 All-Conference football teams and individual award winners tonight as selected by the coaches and a media panel. After leading Ohio State to a third straight conference title for the first time since 1977, linebacker James Laurinaitis was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year by both the coaches and media while defensive end Vernon Gholston was honored as the Defensive Lineman of the Year by the coaches. Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long became the first Big Ten standout to earn back-to-back Offensive Lineman of the Year laurels since 1996 after leading the Wolverines to a second-place finish in the conference standings. Illinois tied Michigan for second in the Big Ten standings and racked up nine overall wins, an improvement of seven triumphs over last season, to sweep the remaining individual honors. The coaches and media selected running back Rashard Mendenhall as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and chose wide receiver Arrelious Benn as the Freshman of the Year while Ron Zook was the media's pick as the Dave McClain Coach of the Year.

After earning consensus All-America honors last season, Laurinaitis returned to Columbus to spearhead a Buckeyes defense which led the Big Ten in total, rushing, passing and scoring defense during conference play. The Big Ten's preseason Defensive Player of the Year boosted the Buckeyes to a third straight championship for the first time since the 1977 season and back-to-back outright titles for the first time since 1954 and 1955. In all games, the junior linebacker led Ohio State with 103 tackles while also collecting 8.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery in 12 games. Laurinaitis is the third Buckeye in the past five years to be named Defensive Player of the Year by both the coaches and the media along with A.J. Hawk in 2005 and Will Smith in 2003. Laurinaitis, the reigning Nagurski Trophy winner as the nation's top defender, is a finalist for the Butkus Award and Nagurski Trophy and a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Bednarik and Lombardi Awards.

Gholston led the Big Ten with 10.0 sacks during conference play to become the fifth Buckeye to nab Defensive Lineman of the Year laurels and the first since Smith was honored in 2003. In all games, the junior defensive end ranked second in the conference and sixth nationally with 13.0 sacks to equal the school single-season record set by Mike Vrabel in 1995, when he won the first of two straight Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year awards. Gholston was part of a pass-rushing unit which tied for second in the Big Ten and fourth nationally with 42 sacks on the season. OSU currently tops the country in all games by allowing only 10.7 points, 225.2 yards of total offense and 148.2 yards of passing offense per game while ranking third nationally by giving up only 77.1 rushing yards per outing.

Long becomes just the fourth standout in conference history to collect back-to-back Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year accolades, a prestigious group that includes Ohio State's Orlando Pace (1995-96) and Korey Stringer (1993-94) and Michigan State's Tony Mandarich (1987-88). The senior offensive tackle gives the Wolverines three Offensive Lineman of the Year awards in the last four seasons, as David Baas was honored in 2004. Other Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year honorees from Michigan include guard Steve Hutchinson (2000) and tackles Jon Jansen (1998) and Greg Skrepenak (1991).

Mendenhall shattered the Illinois school single-season records for rushing yards and touchdowns to become the first Fighting Illini standout to be named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. The junior running back led the Big Ten with 1,526 rushing yards in all games this season to surpass the school's single-season record of 1,330 yards set by Antoineo Harris in 2002. Mendenhall added 16 rushing scores to break the previous program-high of 15 touchdowns established by Howard Griffith in 1990. Illinois ranked sixth in the country with 266.2 rushing yards per contest. In conference games only, the Illini led the Big Ten in rushing for the first time since 1953 with 262.0 yards per outing. Mendenhall is a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, given to the nation's top player, and the Doak Walker Award, earned by the country's top running back.

Benn becomes Illinois' first offensive player to earn Freshman of the Year accolades and the second Illini to be so honored along with defensive end Simeon Rice, who picked up the award from the media only in 1992. The freshman wide receiver leads the team with 49 receptions and 596 receiving yards and 235 kickoff return yards, including a 90-yard touchdown sprint against Penn State. Benn has established new Illinois freshman records in both receptions and receiving yards, breaking the previous high of 511 yards by Brandon Lloyd in 1999 and 43 catches by Ty Douthard in 1993.

In his third-year in Champaign, Zook became the fourth Illinois mentor to earn Big Ten Coach of the Year honors after guiding the program to a seven-win improvement over last season, the largest turnaround in the nation. After winning only two games last year, Zook led the Fighting Illini to a second-place finish in the Big Ten and a 9-3 overall record, the school's first season with nine or more triumphs since producing 10 victories in 2001. In fact, Illinois' nine wins this season surpasses the program's combined total of eight victories over the last four seasons. Zook's seven-win improvement over a year ago leads the country, followed by current five-win improvements for Air Force, Connecticut and Kansas. Zook joins former Illini mentors Ron Turner (2001), John Mackovic (1988, 1989) and Mike White (1983) as Big Ten Coach of the Year honorees.

Overall, there are 21 individuals repeating as members of the All-Big Ten first or second team from a year ago, including seven first-team selections from 2006 who are on this year's first team - Illinois' J Leman, Michigan's Adam Kraus, Long and Mario Manningham, Ohio State's Malcolm Jenkins and Laurinaitis and Wisconsin's Jack Ikegwuonu.

The conference office also announced honorees from each team for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Honorees for football are Leman of Illinois, Josiah Sears of Indiana, Tom Busch of Iowa, Chad Henne of Michigan, Javon Ringer of Michigan State, Amir Pinnix of Minnesota, Tonjua (T.J.) Jones of Northwestern, Brian Hartline of Ohio State, Anthony Morelli of Penn State, Jaycen Taylor of Purdue and Luke Swan of Wisconsin. These 11 student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.

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