Rosemont, Ill. – The Big Ten on Monday announced the 2014 All-Big Ten teams as well as 10 postseason individual award winners. Michigan State, Minnesota and Ohio State each claimed two individual trophies, while one standout each from Iowa, Maryland, Penn State and Wisconsin earned an award.
Michigan State’s Kurtis Drummond was named the Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year, one year after former Spartan Darqueze Dennard accomplished the feat. Tony Lippett became the first Michigan State player to earn Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year honors. Minnesota’s Peter Mortell was named the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year, while teammate Maxx Williams earned Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year plaudits. It marks the first such honors for a Golden Gopher player. Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett earned the Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year honor, marking the third straight season that a Buckeye signal caller has won the award, after Braxton Miller claimed the honor in both 2012 and 2013. The Buckeyes’ Joey Bosa was named the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year, becoming the seventh Ohio State player to claim the award, and the first since John Simon was honored in 2012.
Iowa’s Brandon Scherff was named the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year, becoming the seventh Hawkeye to capture the honor and the first since Bryan Bulaga in 2009. Maryland’s Brad Craddock earned Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year honors in the Terrapins’ first season in the conference. Penn State’s Mike Hull was tabbed the Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year, marking the second time in the past three seasons that a Nittany Lion linebacker has claimed the plaudit after Michael Mauti was honored in 2012. Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon collected the Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year award, the third time in the past four years that a Badger running back has captured the honor, after Montee Ball won the award in 2011 and 2012.
Four Big Ten players were named repeat selections to the All-Big Ten first-team, including Iowa’s Scherff, Michigan State defensive lineman Shilique Calhoun and defensive back Kurtis Drummond and Nebraska defensive lineman Randy Gregory. Maryland’s Craddock and defensive back William Likely were first-team selections by both the coaches and media in the Terrapins’ first season in the Big Ten. Rutgers wide receiver Leonte Carroo also earned first-team plaudits from the media in the Scarlet Knights’ inaugural year as a member of the conference.
The Big Ten also recognized 14 Sportsmanship Award honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The Big Ten postseason awards process is voted on by conference coaches and a select media panel and honors teams, coaches and student-athletes with individual honors that each bear the names of one or two former standouts. The Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian and Ford-Kinnick Leadership awards were announced last week, 10 individual trophies were announced Monday, and the remaining five trophy winners will be unveiled on Tuesday.
A complete list of the 2014 All-Big Ten teams and select individual award winners, along with this year’s Sportsmanship Award honorees, can be found on the attached PDF. The individual award winners announced tonight and last week also appear below.
2014 Big Ten Individual Award Winners
Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year: J.T. Barrett, Ohio State
Named for Purdue’s Bob Griese and Drew Brees
Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year: Tony Lippett, Michigan State
Named for Wisconsin’s Pat Richter and Michigan’s Desmond Howard
Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year: Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
Named for Wisconsin’s Alan Ameche and Ron Dayne
Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year: Maxx Williams, Minnesota
Named for Penn State’s Ted Kwalick and Iowa’s Dallas Clark
Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year: Brandon Scherff, Iowa
Named for Nebraska’s Dave Rimington and Ohio State’s Orlando Pace
Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year: Joey Bosa, Ohio State
Named for Michigan State’s Bubba Smith and Penn State’s Courtney Brown
Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year: Mike Hull, Penn State
Named for Illinois’ Dick Butkus and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald
Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year: Kurtis Drummond, Michigan State
Named for Ohio State’s Jack Tatum and Purdue’s Rod Woodson
Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year: Brad Craddock, Maryland
Named for Wisconsin’s Jim Bakken and Michigan State’s Morten Andersen
Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year: Peter Mortell, Minnesota
Named for Illinois’ Dike Eddleman and Michigan State’s Brandon Fields
Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award: Brian Griese, Michigan*
Named for Minnesota’s Tony Dungy and Indiana’s Anthony Thompson
Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award: Mike Hopkins, Illinois*
Named for Michigan’s Gerald Ford and Iowa’s Nile Kinnick
* Announced Nov. 25