Blue White Illustrated

Postseason recognition was well-deserved and hard-won O nly a few hours after news broke that three high school prospects had given the Penn State football team much-needed verbal commitments, about 1,000 people arrived at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center for a banquet. NFL Hall of Famer Jack Ham was there, along with hundreds of other current and former Nittany Lion players, coaches, support personnel, athletic administrators and their friends and families. They were on hand to honor Penn State's senior class of 2012, and also to celebrate the season that had recently ended. A day earlier, Michael Mauti had been named to ESPN's All-America team, while head coach Bill O'Brien had been chosen as the national AT&T Coach of the Year. It was a great weekend for Penn State football after what can only be described as 12 of the most difficult months a college football program has ever or will ever be forced to endure. None of this, however, amounts to a Christmas miracle. While the program was thought by many both inside and outside of the Penn State community to have received a death sentence from the NCAA in late July, the reality is that those who remained were committed to success, regardless of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their way. They didn't throw up their arms hoping and waiting for divine intervention to save them. Instead, they AWARDS WATCH ill O'Brien headlined a parade of Penn State awardwinners, as he was named Big Ten Coach of the Year by the league's coaches and media, an honor he called "humbling." "Any time you are named Coach of the Year, it has a lot to do with two groups of people – it's your coaching staff and, obviously, your players," he said. O'Brien was later named the AT&T ESPN Coach of the Year, while one of his top players, senior linebacker Michael Mauti, was named an AT&T ESPN first-team All-American. Mauti had previously been named the Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year by the Big Ten, and he was one of several Penn State players to be honored. Deion Barnes, who started the season as a reserve defensive end but finished with a team-high six sacks, won the Big Ten's Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year Award. He becomes the first Penn Stater to win the award since Curtis Enis claimed it 1995. Like Barnes, sophomore Allen Robinson entered the season with muted expectations, but he successfully filled the void that was created when Justin Brown transferred to Oklahoma, finishing as the Lions' leading receiver. He was honored as the conference's Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year. Mauti, Robinson and defensive tackle Jordan Hill were named to the first- B team All-Big Ten squad by the coaches and media. Center Matt Stankiewitch and guard John Urschel were first-team choices by the coaches and received second-team honors from the media. Tight end Kyle Carter was named to the media's first-team squad. Linebacker Gerald Hodges earned second-team AllBig Ten honors from both the coaches and media. Barnes, cornerback Adrian Amos, offensive tackle Mike Farrell, quarterback Matt McGloin, cornerback Stephon Morris, defensive end Sean Stanley and running back Zach Zwinak were given honorable mention All-Big Ten recognition. McGloin was later recognized by the Springdale (Ark.) Rotary Club as the winner of the third annual Burlsworth Trophy, which goes to the nation's outstanding college football player who began his career as a walkon. McGloin was chosen after a stellar senior season in which he broke nine school passing records and tied another. The other finalists were Michigan safety Jordan Kovacs and San Jose State tackle David Quessenberry. "It's great for the university," McGloin said. "To be honored as the top walk-on for this year's graduating class is a great honor. I wouldn't have been able to be here without the support of my family, teammates, coaches and fans. It's really because of those people that I am where I am today and am able to win MATT such a prestigious award." McGLOIN

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