2009 Football Awards Presented By The 11W Banquet
We’ve come a long way since September 5While Jim Tressel and the rest of the coaching staff handed out awards to the 2009 football team yesterday, us here at the 11W headquarters had a banquet of our own. Unlike JT and the gang, the awards we handed out weren’t all about seniors, and we rightfully gave the hardware to those that deserved it.
While we will touch on conventional awards such as Offensive and Defensive MVP, we will also add some new awards for your viewing pleasure. Please note my opinion carries only so much merit and I most likely forgot about 3-5 players when considering each on of these awards. With that disclaimer said, here it goes, your Eleven Warriors 2009 Football Banquet Awards:
Offensive MVP
While the offense sputtered tremendously this year, they definitely did some good things especially on the ground post-Purdue game. It’s easy to sit here and give the award to Terrelle Pryor, who played a lot smarter in the second half of the season, but this award will go to someone who proved to be the most valuable to the team throughout the course of the season. That is why this year’s Offensive MVP Award goes to Brandon “Zoom” Saine. Saine racked up 694 yards and 4 TDs on the ground and 165 yards and a TD through the air this season, but his numbers are just a mere reason why he wins this award. Saine stepped up big time in the absence of Boom Herron (injury) and fought through minor bangs and bruises to always help the team move the chains. It took a little while for The Vest to trust #3, but in time Saine emerged as the top back for this team and was a catalyst for the offense. Other candidates included Terrelle Pryor (3rd place voting) and runner-up DeVier Posey.
Defensive MVP
The defense was the strength of this team and there are many viable candidates, but one that stands out to us is Cameron Heyward. Kurt Coleman, the runner-up and MVP in the real team awards, did a great job this year, but it was Heyward’s play in the trenches that forced errant throws by opposing quarterback and stopped running backs dead in their tracks. The play of the front seven this year enabled a overrated secondary to ultimately get by unscathed for most of the season and a guy always around the ball was #97. Heyward claims he wants to come back next year, but if you were a first round NFL Draft pick would you stay? We sure hope so. Runner-up was the aforementioned Coleman, with Ross Homan, Brian Rolle, and Thaddeus Gibson all receiving votes.
Special Teams MVP
Not many to choose from in this pool, but throughout the year there were multiple return men, many gunners, two kickers, and two punters used by JT’s favorite unit. In the end, the award has to go to Ray Small, who may have disappointed a receiver during his career in Columbus, but will get a shot at the next level due to his return skills. Handling punt return duties and taking over some kick-off duties as well, Small’s season came a long way after the troubled senior missed some of fall camp due to academic issues. He basically wrapped this award up with his performance against Penn State, which allowed the Buckeyes to get prime field position and lead to key scores in a game many expected OSU to lose. Runner-up for the award was Donnie Evege who did a great job in coverage all year long, and third place was Devin Barclay who stepped up big time when Aaron Pettrey went down with an injury.
Most Improved
This award is unique in that many players develop throughout their careers, but it was hard to be a candidate for this award if you weren’t seen on the field too often. The hedgehog on crack may be a victim of this, but we felt it necessary to give the award to Bryant Browning this year. Browning moved offer to right guard after playing right tackle this season, and it seemed the move worked as he did a very good job clearing running lanes and protecting the quarterback. Guard is definitely a more natural fit for BB and I never thought I’d say this, but it will be a pleasure to have him back next season. Runner-up was Brian Rolle, with Devon Torrence and Doug Worthington receiving votes.
Least Improved
This award is given to the individual who should have made strides to take his game to the next level, but didn’t thus leaving us all disappointed. The winner of this award was Chimdi Chekwa. Chekwa was given all the opportunity in the world after Malcolm Jenkins graduated and Donald Washington departed early for the NFL, but did not make the most of the #1 cornerback position. Chekwa’s lack of development was hidden most of the year by a good defensive line, but as you saw towards the end of the year (see: Iowa game), Chekwa’s covering skills were average at best. Nobody expected him to be the player Jenkins was, but we definitely expected more, and his coverage against Oregon’s spread offense does not make me feel any better about the Rose Bowl. Receiving votes were Anderson Russell, Lamaar Thomas, Etienne Sabino (thought we’d see more of him), Boom Herron, and (gasp) Terrelle Pryor.
Offensive Freshman Of The Year
This award is self explanatory, but due to a veteran laden unit, there were not many candidates for this award. Zach Boren, who started at full back won the award given by Ohio State, but in 11W’s awards, this hardware goes to Marcus Hall. Many expected Hall to red-shirt this season, but after poor offensive line play, injuries, and the swine flu, he was thrust into some valuable minutes and did not disappoint. One moment that comes to mind is his play in the PSU game when JB Shugarts left the game with a leg injury. Hall played flawlessly, protecting Pryor’s strong side and did a good job in clearing out running lanes as well. Hall should be a valuable asset to the team next year as someone who could play right or left tackle and if Mike Adams doesn’t get his act together, big #79 could be in for some starting action. Other vote getters were Zach Boren and Duron Carter.
Defensive Freshman Of The Year
We won’t disagree with OSU here, as John Simon or All Flannel Tops as we like to call him around these parts was dominant as a frosh. Whenever he was in, Simon owned the trenches and used his athleticism and strength combination to do damage against the run and the pass. Other vote getters were Storm Klein for his play on special teams, and, oh wait no other freshman really played too much.
Heart Attack Waiting To Happen
This award goes to the player that gave you a heart attack every time he stepped onto the field and was called upon to do something for the team. There were some good options for this award but the winner was Aaron Pettrey. Coming into the year, Buckeye fans were very confident in Pettrey’s abilities, but a missed chip shot and extra point against Indiana lead to him becoming a mental head case on short kicks all year. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise he got hurt, as we don’t know if he would have nailed the short kick Barclay hit against Iowa to clinch the Big Ten. Other vote getters were Ray Small (receiving punts), Terrelle Pryor (throwing the ball), and Anderson Russell (whenever he was in one-on-one coverage).
Thaddeus Gibson Next To Emerge Award
This award, named after Thaddeus Maximus, is given to the player who is next to emerge out of nowhere to be a star. Nathan Williams would have won this award last season and this year the award goes to Travis Howard. Malcolm Jenkins has raved about Howard’s abilities in the past and while he didn’t see the field much this year, the red-shirt freshman is in prime position to snag a starting spot next season with the disappointing play of the secondary in 2009. Howard won the award over Andrew Sweat (whose injury may have prevented him from clinching this award), Etienne Sabino (everyone’s waiting), Jake Stoneburner (will we ever throw to the TE?), and Dorian Bell.
Play Of The Year
This final award goes to the play of the year. This didn’t have to necessarily be the most clutch play or game winning play, but just a memorable and awesome play we will all remember from this year. The winner goes to DeVier Posey’s WR pass to Dane Sanzenbacher for a TD. This play was just flat out awesome and who cares that it was against New Mexico State. This was new-age JT, if one exists, and Posey’s pass may have been the best thrown toss of the year by any player. I’d love to see more of this in the future, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Other vote getters were Barclay’s kick against Iowa in overtime, Rolle’s INT against Navy’s two-point try to seal the game, and Saine’s accidentally called zone read touchdown against Michigan.
I wanna see some wild cat with a pocket full of Posey back there tossin it to the mighty 6′6” Pryor for a TD against Oregon.
My arguments:
Zach Boren hands down as Offensive Freshman of the year. His development was a big reason we were able to start running the way we were at the end of the season.
Least Improved to pryor, mostly because I think you’re being way to harsh on Chekwa. He had one bad game all season. Even if the line was giving him some help, I saw a lot of very well-defended balls when he was in one on one coverage. He didn’t come out looking like a first round choice, but he looked really good.
I’d also say that Rolle’s int was the biggest play of the year. Can you imagine if Navy won that? Heads would have rolled.
I think Chekwa gets a bad rap for the most part. He led the team in passes broken up (7) and was 6th in tackling (43 total, 23 unassisted). I have no way of proving it, but I think he just got thrown at far more often that the other corner position. Maybe I’m wrong…
Speaking of the other CB – I was pleased to see Torrence emerge as a quality player.
Do you want to know what I wake up to in the middle of the night screaming and in a cold sweat? Spitler running after Oregon QB’s and RB’s in the zone read. I thought Jonathan Kerr graduated a long time ago only to see him reform in a #38 Jersey.
Compared to Homan and Rolle, I guess you can say Spitler’s underwhelming. But it’s Homan and Rolle. Spitler has been very, very good for most of this year. Far better than I expected him to be.
For once I agree with you Sam. I still say Sabino would have came up with a few more big plays if he had Spitler’s snaps. But Spitler seemed to notice that he wasn’t that fast and made the proper adjustments.
BTW, my defensive MVP is Ross Homan. I know Heyward made big plays in big wins, but Homan brought it from day 1. Much like Laurinaitis, alot of what he does goes unnoticed.
Sabino would have made a few plays Spitler didn’t simply because he’s faster and a better athlete. Might have actually had something approaching coverage on that USC RB in the final drive. No idea why the staff thought Spitler could handle that responsibility.
But yeah, I think Homan was far better than anyone gave him credit for. He was a better, more consistent tackler than B-Rolle, developed some soft hands as the season went on, and was an absolute terror against Penn State and Michigan. Heyward has an argument too, I guess.
Michigan = Iowa, although he was great against the Wolverines too
prove it….eh, if Taurian Washington started we would have had 30 td passes…eh if Jordan Hall starts we have 2000 yard runner….point being, you are speculating. If Sabino was good enough, he would have started or gotten more reps..he didn’
t
“Might have actually had something approaching coverage on that USC RB in the final drive. No idea why the staff thought Spitler could handle that responsibility.”
Actually, Sabino was in on that final drive and he was completely owned by the USC tight end on the winning TD play. Not saying Spitler would have done any better, but Sabino was in there.
Sabino wasn’t playing because he is still learning the defense.. you can be fast and athletic but if you are not on assignment you’ll get beat like a drum
Offensive MVP Terrelle Pryor (throughout the season)
Sorry but pryor has got to win this award hands down.
Leading the team in touchdowns, rushing, and passing. “just saying”.
Play Of The Year Brian Rolle (week 1)
Intercepted ricky dobbs on a two point conversion attempt. “i was at the game, that place was rockin”
Heart Attack Waiting To Happen Jim Tressel (All Year)
His playcalling had my heart stopping all season. lol…
Pryor cost us two games, but… he basically won at least seven by himself.
poor offensive line play and an un-usual pass happy offense cost us one game(purdue)…
failure to run the clock out before the half and giving up a field goal late in the 2nd quarter + our Defense letting USC go 90 yards on our home field cost us another….
its too simple, and requires less thought to put all the blame on our 2 losses (durring a big ten championship run) on our true sophmore QB…
All true, but Pryor’s interceptions – each of which led to scores in both games, IIRC – did not help matters.
I agree with you though; labeling Pryor a “bust” is the the height of asshattery at this point. I’d say he did a fairly good job considering the circumstances this year.
Well, if not pryor which hands down wins.
Then i like saine…
Boom = slow
Love the kid, but saine proved game
after game that he deserved that spot.
You guys watch the games?
Well I can’t speak for the rest of the crew, but, uh no. I have better things to do on Saturdays.
He may have cost us the Purdue game, but how can you say he cost us the USC game??????? Tress takes the blame for that one….piss poor play calling was the reason there.
jim cordle’s super-consistent snap count cost us the purdue game
At that point in the year, if Tressel opens up the play book and lets Pryor throw a lot, the team is screwed. At that point in the year, he was a terrible passer. USC would’ave had more than the one pick.
He can only call the plays that the players can execute. At the beginning of the season, TP was not executing.
That’s my point exactly, now early next season, I would expect them to be pretty creative because everyone is back and there should be no reason for a lack of execution.
I dunno, perhaps throwing the pick that led directly to USC’s first touchdown? Completing 11 of 27 passes against a secondary that ended up being kinda average? Of course that game isn’t all on Pryor – he wasn’t playing defense on USC’s final drive, and he wasn’t calling plays – but he did a lot more to hurt Ohio State than help it that night.
Its sad that I get more excited when our defense is on the field than when our offense is on the field. I feel like we have a better chance of scoring when the silver bullets are out there.
Its not sad, thats normal. As a life long Steeler fan, I have always been more excited to see the defense on the field. That is why the crowd is always on its feet when the D is on the field.
Apparently the AARP isn’t as well represented at Heinz Field as they are at the shoe.
My favorite play was the dump to Zach Boren in the PSU game where he knocked Lee over on his way to the flat. It was sweet because Pryor checked down to him (a miracle alone) and he knocked over a pretty good LB in the process.
So few Pryor highlights, but less running will do that.
(BTW, Rolle’s pick on the 2pt conversion…yeah, that’s the play of the year.)
Pryor making Bowman look silly was pretty sweet too. Don’t forget that Pryor and Boom both won the battles against Taylor Mays. Play of the year for me is the field goal in OT against Iowa.
my pick for Play Of The Year= Screen for TD vs Michigan……. truly a thing of beauty!
No – that my friend was Perfection. 1/4 inch the other way and that pass is knocked down.
Play of the Year for me has to be the beautiful play-action bomb to Posey vs. State Penn. I mean, it was so good, that their DB’s tackled each other!
Freshman of the Year: Zach Boren no doubt
Offensive MVP: Agree w/ Zoom
Defensive MVP: Hurt Coleman
Special Teams MVP: Ray-Ray, but Grant Schwartz coulda won hands down if he wasn’t .5 seconds early on the ‘almost blocked’ punt vs. SC
Defensive Frosh: All Flannel Tops, aka Hotel Weightroom Meathead Johnny Simon
Least Improved Offense: Jim Cordle
Least Improved Defense: Russell Anderson
Next to Emerge: Sabino, I dont know if you guys realize this, but he MIGHT be wanted for murder after the scUM game
That hit in the scUM game was indeed nasty
Weren’t we all saying the same thing last year? I remember all the nasty hits on special teams then, and thought man this guy is going to be phenominal.
he’s been paying his dues. spitler and homan waited 3-4 years before they got to start. just another drawback of being so deep at linebacker.
I guess that’s kind of my point, if he were exceptional, he would be out there already. Not to say he won’t be.
My POY is when Pryor channeled his inner LeBron and literally slam dunked the ball in the endzone against Minny.
At first I thought you were crazy awarding Mr. Muff-the-Kick the special teams MVP. The I read on and had to agree with the position that there wasn’t any stand out. Here’s hoping I’m wrong about Small, and he goes out with a bang (in a good way).
I’ve mostly cooled it on Small. I’ve been really harsh on him in the past. He never developed into anything to get excited about but, this year he has show some flashes of briliance and hasn’t appeared to be the douche on the field I used to think he was. It’s very fair to say he way underacheived and I’m still not sure he was worth putting up with all this time, but both Tressel and Small should be applauded for sticking it out. Seems he’s become a pretty decent team mate.
Where’s the Jordan “Shifty” Hall love?
I hope Hall really finds his place in the offense next year and sees more playing time. If I’m not mistaken, he came in as an ATH?
he will be a running back here, and thats what he came here to do
I think Hall could really be something special as a running back. I was merely pointing out his versatility as an offensive weapon. Based on how he was recruited, here’s hoping he could be utilized in multiple ways.
Btw, that anonymous was me; I forgot to sign in.
hall ummm…. if he finds room.
+1: Pryor
1: Boom (coaches like for some reason)
2: Zoom
3: Smith
4: Berry
5: Hyde
6: Hall
I know that its a bit early to start speculating on RB’s for next year, but you have Berry below Smith? I wonder if those two will make a push for the first two spots on the chart. I have to think that Berry will get in there.
Yeah, I thought he at least deserved a mention in the offensive freshman category.
Maybe also TP for offensive MVP and Saine for most improved.
So on the ESPN insider page they have a rumor that 2 WR’s are transferring. I don’t have an insider account so I can’t see who… can anyone see who they are?
i remember hearing a week or two ago that washington and thomas might be leaving, i do’nt know
Washington rumor is a few weeks old, Thomas rumor is about 2 months old. we’ll see. wouldn’t blame either of them. doesn’t look like they’ll get much PT outside of special teams for the foreseeable future.
Yeah I would assume Washington and Thomas…that is what has been rumored especially on Bucknuts, etc….I always worried about Flash as I felt we have never taken full advantage of his physical abilities, but maybe he hasn’t put it all together or isn’t as good as we thought…Hazell tends to reward those who deserve to play regardless of age (see: Carter this year, Posey last year, Robo early) and if Flash was good enough he’d play…early in his career, but sees Dane, Duron, Posey all back along with RS Frosh this year, James Louis, Tyrone Williams, and Corey Brown coming in next year
Yeah those were the two I thought of as well. It’s never a good thing to hear that someone wants to leave the program, but maybe they could make more of an impact elsewhere. We do seem just fine on WR though, especially with those upcoming freshmen.
I hope we won’t have any running backs transferring next year;we will have such a stacked depth chart that its hard to imagine that everyone will be happy with their playing time.
Hmm, so at skill positions we have a tone of talent where it’s conceivalbe guys will transfer and be stars somewhere else. Add Linebacker to that mix too. Sounds like a certain school in LA that has top recruiting every year. That’s a problem I don’t mind having, now if we could just stock up on QB’s the way they do. Someone please give me an example of when this program has been in better shape?
Who cares what the national perception is, the kids still want to come here. They know Tressel is one of the best coaches to get them ready for the NFL, and that’s what they care about.
this is definitely a good problem to have… I think Thomas ends up sticking it out though.. he is just having a hard time adjusting to playing WR…
If Pryor was in charge of tossing me the rock I would transfer as well. I hope that I am wrong, but I think it is a pipe dream to think this kid is going to ever be an above average passer.
Does he need to be above average at passing though. To me that means he hits the balls that are open. With his ability to keep a play alive if he can hit the guys that are open that’s all he needs to be. We don’t need Drew Brees back there.
Well I think when you play at a Florida, USC, Texas, Oklahoma, and OSU I absolutely think you should be an above average passer. This season every fan saw him bounce balls in front of receivers running the 5 yard out. That is a ball kids in their freshman year of high school can complete.
Brian fans like you can talk about him keeping the play alive with his legs all you want but what does it matter if he can’t complete the pass after keeping the play alive? In three of the biggest games of the year his completion % looked like this 47% vs Penn St, 44% vs USC, 38% vs Wisconsin. Had a good completion % against Iowa at 82% I will give hime credit. But being awful in 3 out of 4 is terrible. Notice I did not even include the Purdue debacle.
You can’t deny that those are some disgusting numbers for not really attempting many passes each game.
Like I said I hope I am wrong about his future but if I were a receiver I would have transferred in a heart beat even if I was getting snaps on Saturday.
So I saw on the bottom line of the Monday night game The Heisman finalists are Gerhart, Mc Coy, Ingram, Suh, and Tebow. My guess is Suh may land it. I know of one voter who put him at number 1. I’d personally like to see it. Make a total shift from tradition. It pisses me off that they named Tebow a finalist, but doesn’t surprise me. That was his lifetime acheivement award.
For all concerned, this is the ass-clown that got me all fired up today…
http://twitter.com/G0BENGALS
In the space of 13 hours, he called Ken Gordon a douche, Cheered when Turner broke his back, called Tressel a fag, and Les Miles a shithead. And no, he did’t respond to my comments, which I ended up deleting.
FTW.
Les Miles is kind of a shithead, but not for voting OSU number 5.
Never had to await moderation before…
Check this out, all of the coaches final ranking ballots:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2009-final-coaches-ballots.htm
Steve “Fuck you very much” Spurrier ranked the Bucks 11th, behind both Penn St (9) and Iowa (10).
What an ass. In case you didn’t notice Steve, the Buckeyes beat BOTH teams, right at the end of the season.
It just goes to show how these polls are such a bunch of crap. Especially the ballots posted by guys like him.
I’m sure it was an oversight and he meant to vote them higher lol.
I think Brian is right; he probably meant to vote them #1, but double-clutched on the ‘1′.
If Todd McShay and Steve Spurrier were car pooling to next year’s Asshatery Awards and got into an horrific car crash, I’d make sure the job was finished.
Seriously.
I’m actually a little surprised that you didn’t give Kurt the MVP for defense. I know he won the real one, and that Cam Heyward is a beast, but Kurt seemed like he did everything for the secondary. I honestly think Thad Gibson had more picks then most of our DB’s ^^
Les Miles ranks OSU highest in the country at #5; Steve Spurrier ranks OSU lowest in country at #11.
The defensive award should be named the Kurt Coleman award.