The Wolverine

December 2011

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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MAIZE N' VIEW MICHAEL SPATH Deserving Wolverines Overlooked T he Big Ten unveiled its all- conference teams Nov. 28, with Wisconsin and Michigan State — the Leaders and Legends division winners, respectively — leading the charge with nine first- or second- team coaches selections each. Michigan, which finished 6-2, good for the second-best conference re- cord in the league, earned just three first- or second-team coaches selec- tions (the media also doled out three honors), garnering fewer recipients than 5-3 Nebraska (six all-conference players), 4-4 Iowa (six), 6-2 Penn State (five), 3-5 Ohio State (five) and 4-4 Purdue (four) while earning the same amount as 2-6 Illinois (three). The conference's coaches and me- dia voters overlooked a number of deserving Wolverines. Tailback Fitzgerald Toussaint: Wisconsin's Montee Ball (consensus first team), Iowa's Marcus Coker (second team) and Nebraska's Rex Burkhead (first team) finished first, second and third in the Big Ten in rushing, each surpassing 1,200 yards and scoring at least 15 touchdowns. There is no argument there. How- ever, Toussaint deserved the fourth spot (and second second-team selec- tion) over Penn State's Silas Redd. In eight conference games, Redd rushed for 885 yards and three scores, barely eclipsing Toussaint's 818 yards (and six scores). But the Nittany Lion ball carrier was fad- ing down the stretch while his team went 1-2 in November, rushing for just 60.7 yards per game and failing to cross the goal line. Toussaint, meanwhile, was proving a difference-maker for the Wolverines during their 3-1 November push, av- eraging 127.0 yards with three touch- downs. The redshirt sophomore had 100-yard efforts in four of U-M's final five games, all wins. Redd likely earned the nod ahead of Toussaint because voters put very little research into their analysis and simply voted for the Big Ten's top four rushers, with Redd (1,188 yards) ranked ahead of Toussaint (sixth, 1,011 yards). Defensive end Ryan Van Bergen: The fifth-year senior received honor- 98 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2011 les for loss, and was largely a non- factor for the Illini during that losing streak. Gholston, meanwhile, had three sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss during conference action, but contributed just 2.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage in November. Leading a defensive line that was Redshirt sophomore running back Fitzgerald Toussaint posted 100-yard efforts in four of U-M's final five games on his way to 1,011 yards during the regular season. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN able mention distinction from the coaches and the media. Again, little debate about three of the four first- team selections: Illinois' Whitney Mercilus led the conference in sacks (14.5) and tackles for loss (19.5); Michigan State's Jerel Worthy was the best defensive lineman on the Big Ten's best rush defense and overall defense; and Penn State's Devon Still ranked third in the league with 17.0 tackles for loss while playing for one of the top defenses. The coaches didn't reach on their fourth first-team pick either — though it could have been U-M senior Mike Martin — choosing Ohio State's John Simon, who had seven sacks among 15 tackles for loss. Van Bergen, however, should have been a second-team pick ahead of Illinois' Michael Buchanan, Iowa's Mike Daniels and Broderick Binns, Michigan State's William Gholston and Purdue's Kawann Short. All of these players had numbers, ranging from five sacks to 6.5, and 11.0 tack- les for loss to 17.0, but only Gholston and Buchanan played on a top-five defense, and even then, Van Bergen could make a stronger argument then either of those two. Illinois went 0-6 after a 6-0 start with its defense surrendering 22.3 points per game during that stretch. Buchanan had 2.0 sacks and 5.5 tack- improving every week, Van Bergen had five sacks and 10.0 tackles for loss during Big Ten play, and was even more productive in November, accounting for four quarterback take- downs among eight tackles for loss. He was playing his best football, sparking the Maize and Blue, while his competitors limped to the finish line. Safety Jordan Kovacs: It took Ko- vacs a few early-season big plays to finally shed his "former walk-on" sta- tus among Michigan fans, and it ap- parently will take him a bit longer to convince the rest of the Big Ten he's one of the conference's best players. Most of the time, stats do the trick, and that should have worked in Ko- vacs' favor; he led the conference's defensive backs in sacks (four) and tackles for loss (eight) while also forcing two fumbles. Kovacs wasn't asked to break up passes — he had just two passes defended, including an interception — and significantly trailed the eight defensive backs who were named first- or second-team in that category, but perhaps no one made as many big plays as Kovacs, and they were in those moments when U-M needed them the most. Every year there will be surprises, and there will be snubs, and unfortu- nately for the Wolverines they were ignored on many ballots. But though Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue garnered more rec- ognitions, every one of those teams would trade places to be 10-2 and awaiting the likely BCS bowl berth coming Michigan's way. ❑ Associate Editor Michael Spath has been with The Wolverine since 2002. Contact him at mspath@comcast.net and follow him on Twitter @Spath_ Wolverine.

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