I know that all of you Big Ten football fans and loyal readers were just dying for the annual tradition handing out my Brainsplotch Big Ten Football Awards. Unlike the previous two years, in 2010 I will honor more than one defensive player. In 2008 and 2009, I was too flat-out lazy to break down defense and distribute multiple awards. I'm sure the Big Ten was extremely disappointed by my lack of comprehensive analysis. Hey, it's not like I'm getting paid to do this!
You were restless with anticipation to see the players I selected, as I'm sure the players themselves can hardly wait to receive their "virtual" awards. Never fear, your wait is over...drum roll, please:
Most Valuable Player: Denard Robinson, Michigan. There was not a single player in the conference who was more valuable to his team than Denard Robinson, the Wolverines' quarterback. With Michigan's defense and special teams as terrible as they were, it's hard to imagine how miserable the team would have been if it hadn't been for the offensive sparkplug that was Mr. Robinson. He led the conference in total offense, and was, amazingly, the Big Ten's leading rusher as a quarterback. Not only that, but his rushing yards (1643) were almost 300 yards more than his closest competitor in that catagory, Mikel Leshoure of Illinois (1371 yards).
Robinson's critics will argue that when he played against better defenses, his numbers went down. Well, yeah, of course they did--that's to be expected. The critics might also point to the ten interceptions he threw and his passing efficiency, which was only seventh in the Big Ten.
The mistakes that DRob made can be traced to the fact that his defense was completely unreliable, and was never able to put the offense in a position where it didn't feel like it had to make plays to keep up with the opponent.
Honorable mentions go to Ryan Kerrigan of Purdue, Greg Jones of Michigan State, and Terrell Pryor of Ohio State. Who knows how much more disappointing Purdue's season would have been without Kerrigan's contributions on defense. See "Best defensive lineman" for more on Kerrigan. Greg Jones came back for a senior year and delivered on his stated goal to win a conference title. Terrell Pryor is an under-appreciated talent, and had another solid year in leading the Buckeyes to yet another Big Ten crown (albeit shared with Wisconsin and Michigan State).
Best quarterback: Denard Robinson, Michigan. It was a great year for quarterbacks in the Big Ten Conference, and this choice was a particularly difficult one. Scott Tolzien (Wisconsin), Terrell Pryor (Ohio State), Kirk Cousins (Michigan State), Dan Persa (Northwestern), Adam Weber (Minnesota), and Ben Chappell (Indiana) are all deserving of honorable mention. No quarterback, however, brings the multidimensional ability of Denard Robinson. For all the reasons mentioned above, Robinson is top quarterback in the Big Ten, but the others are not far behind.
After mulling this over in my head, I almost gave this award to Terrell Pryor, whose athleticism, toughness, and competitiveness are often taken for granted (despite his penchant for accepting free tattoos and selling Big Ten Championship rings). His 4th and 10 scramble against Iowa was a huge play. Kirk Cousins' level-headed leadership helped propel the Spartans to a share of the title, Scott Tolzien improved as the season progressed and led the Big Ten in passing efficiency, Dan Persa was having a great year until his season ended in the Wildcats' win over Iowa, while Weber and Chappell were bright spots in otherwise dismal seasons for Minnesota and Indiana, respectively.
Best running back: Mikel Leshoure, Illinois. By all rights, this award should also go to Denard Robinson, who as a quarterback led the conference in rushing. However, it goes to Leshoure, who finished the season with 1513 yards, averaging 6.1 yards per carry, and had a huge 330-yard game at Wrigley Field against instate rival Northwestern.
Honorable mention to Edwin Baker of Michigan State, and for the outstanding three-headed monster at Wisconsin: John Clay, Montee Ball, and James White.
Best wide receiver: Tandon Doss, Indiana. He was a highlight of an otherwise dismal season for the Hoosiers. Doss was not only a great ball catcher, but led the conference in all-purpose yardage by a large margin. Honorable mentions go out to the Iowa tandem of Marvin McNutt and Derrel Johnson-Koulianos, as well as Jeremy Ebert of Northwestern, and B. J. Cunningham of Michigan State.
Best kicker: Devin Barclay, Ohio State. Barclay was perfect on PATs and led the conference in scoring. A very close honorable mention to freshman Dan Conroy of Michigan State, who was 44 of 45 on point-afters and 14 of 15 in fieldgoals.
Best defensive lineman: Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue. I'd heard a lot of hype about this guy throughout the season, but didn't actually see him play until the Boilermakers took on Michigan State, and I was quite impressed with him. He is incredibly fast off the ball and an extremely hard hitter. MSU's offensive tackle J'Michael Deane had a hell of a time blocking Kerrigan.
Kerrigan led the Big Ten in forced fumble, sacks, and tackles for loss, and I can guarantee he will be a significant contributor to an NFL team next season.
(For what it's worth, I've seen Kerrigan interviewed a few times and he's soft-spoken, modest, and quite witty. It's on the football field that he becomes a wild animal).
Honorable mention goes to J.J. Watt of Wisconsin, who had a terrific season for the conference co-champion Badgers.
Best linebacker: Greg Jones, Michigan State. At the end of the 2009 season, Greg Jones said he was returning to MSU to win a Big Ten title (and, let's be honest, he was returning at least partly because he was NOT going to be a first round pick in the 2010 NFL draft). Jones fulfilled his goal and led the Spartans to their first conference crown in 20 years. He also anchored an MSU defense that was much improved over last season.
Honorable mentions go to the two great linebackers at Ohio State, Ross Homan and Brian Rolle, as well as Martez Wilson of Illinois and Eric Gordon of Michigan State.
Best defensive back: Ricardo Allen, Purdue. I'm going against the grain on this one, since Allen was only honorable mention all conference in the official Big Ten awards, but I'm giving this to Allen because he was the most impressive DB I saw all year. He was only a freshman in 2010, so he will be wreaking havoc in opposing passing games for the next three years. My honorable mentions go to Trenton Robinson and Johnny Adams of Michigan State (okay, go ahead and call me a homer. If the shoe fits, wear it!) who were the outstanding all year in a much-improved Spartan defensive backfield.
Best punter: Aaron Bates, Michigan State. Sorry, I'm not being a homer here. Bates was the best punter in the Big Ten (and, possibly, one of the best quarterbacks in the conference based on his perfect execution of the "Little Giants" fake field goal against Notre Dame and the "Mouse Trap" fake punt against Northwestern). Honorable mention goes to Illinois' Anthony Santella, who tied Bates for the Big Ten lead in punting average.
Coach of the year: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State. Once again, I can be accused of being a homer on this pick, but the facts bear out the cold hard fact that Dantonio did the best, most amazing coaching job of the year in the Big Ten. He took a team that was, at best, a darkhorse to contend for the conference title, and led them to a share of the title. En route, he took a gamble with the gutsiest call of the year (the "Little Giants" fake field goal) to beat Notre Dame on national television.
Shortly after celebrating the most dramatic win of his MSU coaching career, Dantonio suffered a heart attack. He coached the next few games from his hospital bed, then was able to gain enough strength to lead the team from the press box. Despite all these difficulties, the Spartans continued to win. (If I had a coaching staff of the year, it'd also have to go to Michigan State. Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell and the rest of the coaches did a remarkable job in keeping the team going without missing a beat).
When it comes right down to it, no coach in the conference experienced the setback that Mark Dantonio did while at the same time leading his team to one of the best seasons in school history. Dantonio has changed the culture of losing that has existed for far too long at Michigan State and brought the program back to championship caliber levels. In two of the last three years, the Spartans have played for a share of the conference title on the last day of the season.
My honorable mentions go to Jim Tressel and Bret Bielema (the two coaches of the other conference co-champions). Jim Tressel is taken entirely for granted. Many out there assume that because OSU gets so much talent (and they do get considerable talent--but someone has to recruit that talent), they should automatically win even if a trained chimp were serving as head coach. They neglect the fact that the Ohio State program has elevated at least a few notches from where it was under John Cooper. It's amazing what Tressel has accomplished in leading the Buckeyes to a sixth consecutive Big Ten title.
I'll also give a nod to Bret Bielema of Wisconsin. The Badgers overcame one early season speed bump (the loss to MSU in the first conference game of the season) and improved throughout the course of the season. They ran over the #1-ranked Ohio State in Madison, took down Iowa in Iowa City, and by November were simply steamrolling their opponents. He's not going to win any sportsmanship awards with the way he ran up some scores against hapless foes, but Bielema knew how to work the BCS system to get the Badgers to the Rose Bowl. He's developed a formidable football program in Madison.
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