Brett Maher, Lavonte David, Alfonzo Dennard Highlight Nebraska's Big Ten Awards

by Jon Johnston on Nov 29, 2011 8:30 AM CST in 2011 Nebraska Huskers Football

LINCOLN, NE - NOVEMBER 25: Wide receiver Marvin McNutt #7 of the Iowa Hawkeyes catches a pass while being wrapped up by cornerback Alfonzo Dennard #15 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers during their game at Memorial Stadium November 25, 2011 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images)

Nebraska didn't fair too badly in its first year in the Big Ten, scooping up some coveted awards.

Brett Maher was named as the league's most valuable punter AND kicker, just in case you were wondering how good a job he did in replacing Alex Henery. Those awards were the Bakken-Anderson Kicker of the Year and Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year. Not too shabby for his first year on the job.

Lavonte David, to the surprise of no one, picked up the Butkus-Fitsgerald Linebacker of the Year Award while Alfonzo Dennard won the Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year Award.

The league selects two separate team-based awards, one by coaches, one by media, and Nebraska did well on both accounts.

Running back Rex Burkead was named to the first team by both the coaches and the media, as were Lavonte David, Alfonzo Dennard and Brett Maher. Maher had the honor of earning dual awards as kicker and punter. Burkhead was the third leading rusher (in both yardage and yards per game) in the Big Ten behind Iowa's Marcus Coker, so his selection to both teams could be considered somewhat of a surprise.

Center Mike Caputo tied with Mike Brewster of Ohio State for second team honors by the coaches, while walk-on and first-year starter guard Spencer Long was award second team by the media. I have to honestly say I'm surprised by both of those selections. In Caputo's case, tying with Mike Brewster is a little shocking, as Brewster is typically considered an incredibly good center (All Big Ten first team in 2010 and a Rimington Trophy finalist). In Long's case, that he was recognized in his first year says volumes about the job he did on the field.

Honorable mentions were as follows:

Coaches: Will Compton, Ben Cotton, Spencer Long, Marcel Jones, and Baker Steinkuhler.

Media: Mike Caputo, Austin Cassidy, Will Compton, Ben Cotton, Marcel Jones, Cameron Meredith, Daimion Stafford and Baker Steinkuhler.

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Good to see Maher get recognized

He did an awesome job. I still can’t trust him the same way I trusted Henery, but he’s definitely getting there. I wish we had 3 more years with him rather than just 1.

A lot of people seem to be worrying about the fact that we are losing David and Denard next seasons, but I’m not one of them. Obviously it hurts to lose those guys, but people need to remember how inexperienced the rest of the defense was, and how bad injuries hurt us on the defensive line. Guys like Jay Guy and Justin Jackson played a lot on a year where they were supposed to be 3rd or 4th string. Guys like Andrew Green, Chase Rome, and Will Compton improve quite a bit from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. There were guys with a lot of experience on the bench like Courtney Osborne and Sean Fisher.

All I’m saying is that overall our defense comes back next year with lots of depth and lots of starting experience, which is kind of the opposite of how this year was despite our three big stars (and one of them got hurt after a slow start). I think our defense have 11 solid, experienced players on the field next year…along with some great up and comers who will see playing time like Todd Peat Jr, David Santos, and Charles Jackson. Not to mention rising stars on the field like Andrew Green, Will Compton, Chase Rome, and Cameron Meridith. Any one of those guys could end up being stars by the end of next season.

Look me up on youtube sometime...if you're really bored.

by Billgrip on Nov 29, 2011 1:05 PM CST reply actions

Perhaps.

Those guys are definitely talented and have the potential to be very good players, but none of them are Alfonzo Dennard or Lavonte David. We don’t have a shut-down corner on the roster moving forward, nor do we have much depth. Ciante Evans has been terrible, and I don’t know what the heck happened to Jean-Baptiste or Cooper. Compton has improved a lot, but he’s not going to be able to dominate a game like David.

David just meant so much to our defense this year. Imagine how bad we would have been without him. There’s nobody on the roster unless one of the freshmen turn out to be studs that can make up for as many mistakes as he did.

I really hope you’re right. Hopefully everyone steps up and we have depth to make up for the lack of star power. I just wouldn’t bet on it at this point.

Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!

Read my thoughts on Creighton University athletics at Creightonian.com

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by Omaha Sun on Nov 29, 2011 5:16 PM CST up reply actions

I would bet on it

Maybe not money…but you know :) I tend to be optimistic…but I am confident that I’m not a kool-aid spewer.

I still believe in Bo Pelini as a defensive genius and an ability to coach guys up. I think that the team he took over had more talent than it does now, but remember that he was able to take the same group of guys from 5-7 to 9-4 in one season.

Lavonte David was the most important piece to this year’s defense, I agree…but Will Compton has really come on strong and Sean Fisher was a disappointment this year but at least we know he has experience and understands the system. Maybe another off season will help him take the next step. Zaire Anderson is supposed to be the top juco linebacker in the country, and don’t forget about David Santos, a 4 star recruit who got to redshirt this year and it will pay off next year.

As for a shut-down corner…you’re right, that is a big question mark and next year will be the first time in three seasons we won’t go into the season with a guy who is definitely a shut down corner. But this goes back to my belief in Pelini and his staff to develop defensive players. They did a great job with Prince and Denard, and neither of them really reached that status until later on in their junior seasons. Next year Andrew Green and Ciante Evans will both be juniors, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see either one of them make the jump. Think how much Andrew Green has improved from the start of this season to the end. It’s been huge. I think that it will continue over the off season and he will be one of our best guys next year.

As for Baptiste and Cooper…remember that neither of them came into the season as corners and only got thrown into that position because Denard was hurt and Green/Evans were doing so bad. But after the Ohio State game Green got his job back and never gave it away which shows that the light was clearly coming on. I think Baptiste and Cooper be great backups next year since they’ve both seen quality playing time and next year they’ll actually have more than a few weeks or days of coaching at the position.

I’ve also heard really good things about Charles Jackson who didn’t qualify academically this year but sounds like a guy who could come in and make an impact right away when he does get here.

Look me up on youtube sometime...if you're really bored.

by Billgrip on Nov 29, 2011 9:59 PM CST up reply actions

Just wanted to add to your excellent post...

The secondary and linebacker coaches were both in their first year here as well. I would like to think that that had an negative impact on this year’s defense that should turn into a positive for next year. :)

by DH HuskerJedi on Nov 29, 2011 11:40 PM CST up reply actions

I have no faith in Ciante Evans. He got me excited in his first game and has done nothing but get burned since.

I agree Green has improved a ton throughout the season, but I don’t know if I see shut-down corner in him. Most of his best plays that I remember were good tackles, not good pass break-ups or INTs for the most part. He really grew into a solid #2 CB, but we’ll have to wait and see if he can continue that growth. The loss of Sanders apparently did a lot more damage than I thought it would.

Let’s play these new guys live up to the hype.

Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!

Read my thoughts on Creighton University athletics at Creightonian.com

I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.

by Omaha Sun on Nov 30, 2011 12:39 AM CST up reply actions

The loss of Amukamera, Gomes, and Haag hurt us the most

I don’t think it was Marvin Sanders. We had three guys who left for the NFL in the secondary, and that is a huge loss to overcome in one particular area for anyone. I think Corey Raymond did a good job for his first season considering the circumstances. Next year he only has to make up for the loss of one NFL caliber player in the secondary.

Maybe your assessment that he will be a good #2 corner is more realistic than my hope that he will bloom into a shutdown corner. If it isn’t Green, then maybe our shutdown guy will be Baptiste. Unfortunately we can’t plan on that because he’s still relatively new to the position and inexperienced, but I think we can all agree he has a lot of potential. And actually, his development will tell us a lot more about Corey Raymond’s coaching abilities. If Baptiste never gets coached up, it’s on the coaches, because it’s obvious that the athletic ability and raw tools are there.

As for Ciante…what the heck? His best game is still the Missouri game. He played very well, but was that his peak? As a freshman? I have a hard time believing it but he hasn’t shown much evidence to prove otherwise. I wonder if he has just had a really hard time understanding the defense because he almost always seemed out of position at corner. There were several times I saw him looking to the sidelines and stretching out his arms at the coaches giving them a “I don’t know what I’m doing” gesture. He seemed to do better when they had him in the nickel position in the last half of the season. Maybe that’s where he’ll stay, especially if Baptiste is ready to start.

Look me up on youtube sometime...if you're really bored.

by Billgrip on Nov 30, 2011 1:03 AM CST up reply actions