2013 Gopher Awards Recap

Posted by Higgy

The conclusion of our exciting 8-4 regular season was followed by the annual crush of postseason awards, which included some nice honors for members of our squad, led by Jerry Kill's AFCA Region Coach-of-the-Year honor and Optimus Prime becoming the first Gopher to earn All-B1G First Team from both the coaches and the media since some guy with a reality show named Eric Decker. 'Shede also got All-America Third Team honors from Athlon Sports and was named the Team MVP.

Since there are about 949 different factions passing out postseason awards, here's a comprehensive list of the Gopher postseason awards that I could track down, and my observations below. Congrats to those who parlayed success in the Case IH Red Zone into honors from (insert random publication here).



'Shede was the big winner of awards season.

AFCA Region Coach-of-the-Year
Jerry Kill, Region 3

Athlon Sports All-America Team
Ra'Shede Hageman, Third Team

2013 All-Big Ten Team - Coaches
Ra'Shede Hageman, First Team
Brock Vereen, First Team
Caleb Bak, Honorable Mention
Peter Mortell, Honorable Mention
Eric Murray, Honorable Mention
Aaron Hill, Honorable Mention

2013 All-Big Ten Team - Media
Ra'Shede Hageman, First Team
Theiren Cockran, Second Team
Brock Vereen, Honorable Mention
Caleb Bak, Honorable Mention
Peter Mortell, Honorable Mention
Eric Murray, Honorable Mention
Josh Campion, Honorable Mention
Zac Epping, Honorable Mention

Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
Aaron Hill

Sporting News All-Big Ten Team
Josh Campion, First Team

Athlon Sports All-Big Ten Team
Ra'Shede Hageman, First Team
Brock Vereen, Second Team

College Sports Madness All-Big Ten Team
Brock Vereen, Second Team
Marcus Johnes, Second Team
David Cobb, Third Team
Theiren Cockran, Third Team
Eric Murray, Third Team

ESPN.com All-Big Ten Team
Ra'Shede Hageman
Brock Vereen

ESPN.com Big Ten All-Freshman Team
Maxx Williams
Ben Lauer

2013 Gopher Football Team Awards
Bronko Nagurski Award (MVP) - Ra'Shede Hageman
Carl Eller Award (Defensive MVP) - Ra'Shede Hageman
Bruce Smith Award (Offensive MVP) - David Cobb
Gary Tinsley Award (Underdog) - David Cobb
Bobby Bell Award (Special Teams MVP) - Peter Mortell
Paul Giel Award (Unselfish, Concern for U of M) - Aaron Hill and Brock Vereen
Neil Fredenburg Award (Courage, Love of the game) - Aaron Hill
Tony Dungy Character and Community Service Award - Chris Hawthorne
Butch Nash Award (Scholar-athlete) - Jon Christenson
Offensive Lineman-of-the-Year - Zac Epping
Offensive Back-of-the-Year - David Cobb
Wide Receiver-of-the-Year - Derrick Engel
Defensive Lineman-of-the-Year - Ra'Shede Hageman
Linebacker-of-the-Year - Aaron Hill
Defensive Back-of-the-Year - Brock Vereen
Outstanding Offensive Freshman-of-the-Year - Donovahn Jones and Maxx Williams
Outstanding Defensive Freshman-of-the-Year - Hendrick Ekpe
Offensive Work Team Player-of-the-Year - Jephte Matilus
Defensive Work Team Player-of-the-Year - Chris Wipson

SHURE AS 'SHEDE
It's pretty clear - and no surprise - that Ra'Shede was the big winner of awards season. It's great he received First Team All-B1G honors from both factions and ESPN.com as well as the Third Team All-American honor from something called Athlon Sports. It's also clear that the coaches and players looked at his as the leader this season with his big Gopher team honors. He didn't quite live up to the lofty expectations of his senior season and sometimes it was puzzling that he wasn't on the field more, but Ra'Shede could change the game or the momentum in the blink of an eye.

'Shede's Paul-Bunyan-esque heroics will live on in Section 117.

His helmet-less sack against Western Illinois, the field-goal-block-and-bat against UNLV and his amazing sack against Nebraska (while being held and dragged down) will forever live in our memories - and a few years from now we'll be telling tales about how he broke Taylor Martinez in half, ate San Jose State whole and punched that divot in Bill O'Brien's chin.

Shede's next big season - NFL combine and evaluation season - should prove even more fruitful than awards season. The NFL fan in me hates the combine with passion because it creates so much focus on things that don't always add up to production on the field, and guys with tremendous on-the-field resumes (cough, cough, Eric Decker, Marion Barber III) that don't quite "measure up" are downgraded. But in this case, it should be fun to see how 'Shede performs and his draft stock fluctuates. He'll impress with his unusual athleticism for his size, and who knows how high that could push his projections. Personally, I think he's a late second-round talent, maybe even early third, but his workouts could certainly push him into the first round. Furthermore, it will be great to see how he grows and develops at the next level. It was announced today he'll be the first Gopher to play in the Senior Bowl since Mark Stetterstrom, so hopefully the draft buzz will start early, and now we'll get one more collegiate chance to root for Ra'Shede.

PLEASANT SURPRISES
Brock Vereen has to be the most pleasant surprise of the awards season, earning First Team from the coaches and a nod from ESPN.com as well. I read somewhere that this has to be directly related to the Gophers' team success and defensive improvement, but it also highlights what Vereen meant to our success as a defensive back. He had turned into a fine safety, but when we needed help at corner, he made the switch back to his original college position and played admirably. He's a very technically sound player, a smart player, and along with Aaron Hill, he made for much of our team's heart, soul and leadership in 2013.

Theiren Cockran's Second-Team selection from the media was another pleasant surprise, and hopefully a sign of things to come for the talented young pass rusher. His progress was exciting this season, and he could keep getting better and better. Very happy to see Aaron Hill receive Honorable Mention and will be sad to see him graduate after an inspirational career that took him from walk-on to team leader. Great to see Peter Mortell and Eric Murray receive Honorable Mention from both factions, and hopefully that's just the first honor for those two talents. Also glad to see Zac Epping get a nod, as he may not be the most talented of our offensive lineman, but I got the feeling he's the heart and soul of that unit.

B1G awards were Cobb-deficient.

SIGNIFICANT SNUBS
Any talk of snubs has to start with David Cobb. I was really happy to see him honored as the team's Back-of-the-Year and Offensive MVP to make up for the lack of B1G honors. I am guessing that the coaches and media each were able to put four RBs on their ballot, and I can't make an argument that Cobb was more deserving than Ameer Abdullah, Carlos Hyde, Melvin Gordon or James White, so it's easy to figure out how he didn't end up on any of the ballots, but it is still a tough pill to swallow that a guy who performed so well in conference play and was such a huge factor in our success could go without All-Conference accolades. Hopefully this serves as motivation for Cobb to be just as good - if not better - a year from now.

Another name noticeably absent from the postseason awards was freshman tight end Maxx Williams. I didn't see many tight ends in conference play that were better or had a bigger impact on their teams' success than Double X did for Minnesota. He was a great blocker and made countless big catches throughout the season. Even against the big boys, Williams always looked like he belonged. Don't be surprised if he garners First Team B1G honors at some point in his career, and maybe his lack of honors means we didn't utilize him as much as we should. Here's to hoping we can count on Maxx for at least five-six catches a game going forward. At least he and OT Ben Lauer were named to the ESPN.com All-Freshman Team, hopefully just the first pseudo-honors for those two going forward.

The final name that didn't show up anywhere and surprised me was LB Damien Wilson. His numbers and production didn't quite match up to a loaded class of linebackers in the B1G, but anyone who watched the Gophers recognized his talent this season. Like Williams, he never appeared overmatched and often played his best against our toughest opponents. Hopefully this was just the appetizer, and his senior year serves as a delectable main course.

Too bad Derrick Engel missed the end of the season with an injury ... he could have been well on his way to some B1G honors as well. He had a great run during our winning streak and really emerged as a No. 1 WR this season. Hopefully the young talented wideouts learned from his example and we'll see names like Donovahn Jones or Drew Wolitarsky on future honor lists.

FINAL THOUGHTS
At halftime of the Penn State game, I thought Phil "Full" Nelson was playing his way into consideration for B1G honors, but then the final 10 quarters happened. It's clear that our team took a big step forward this season, and when Phil was on we were capable of competing with anyone. But he really struggled in the second half against Penn State, and against both Wisconsin and Michigan State. Here's to hoping he gets healthy and increasingly comfortable and the bowl preparation assists in his development. Syracuse is said to be stout against the run, so Phil's performance in Houston will be critical to our success.

We need No. 9 to play better in the bowl game and beyond.

Seeing Jordan Lynch as a Heisman finalist Saturday and to hear him (and the announcers) praise Coach Kill throughout the week for taking a chance on him and aiding his development has me hopeful that we'll end up having stellar quarterback play under this current regime. As smash-mouth as the B1G is, a great quarterback is still the best asset a football team can have. Phil has had flashes of tremendous play as a freshman and sophomore ... now, as an upperclassman, he needs to play that way consistently. If he does, more victories and eventual accolades will follow.

If he doesn't, maybe Leidner or Streveler will emerge as the type of dual-threat QB that Kill and Limegrover like to enlist. Regardless of who it is, Minnesota needs better play under center against top-flight teams to continue the ascension. The final two regular season games proved the defense and running game have come a long way. Add in better quarterback play and everyone will benefit. There will be more wins and, as a result, more Gophers named on All-Conference and All-American teams going forward.

EXTRA POINTS
-Looking deeper at Kill's AFCA Region 3 Coach-of-the-Year award, you'll see that some great football is being played in Minnesota as Minnesota State-Mankato's Aaron Keen received the D-II Region 5 honor and Bethel's Steve Johnson got the D-III Region 5 honor. The NAIA Region 4 honor was another that made me extremely happy and proud, as it was given to Dakota Wesleyan's Ross Cimpl. I was the SID at DWU from 2008-2010, and Ross was hired as an assistant coach while I was there. Great honor for him and my other friends on his staff and great to see what he's doing with the Tigers.

-During my recent travels, I encountered quite a few other travelers in airports and on planes wearing Nebraska gear. It's the first time in my life I could smirk at those individual while wearing Minnesota gear knowing that our team had gotten the upper hand. It was a nice, nice feeling.

Now when Wade Blasingame reminds you he's "not the
ballplayer," he could mean the Gopher defensive back.

-Nice to see our good friend Marquis Gray doing some nice things in Cleveland via the Wildcat and his new tight end position. Maybe he can get a cameo in the next Cleveland tourism video? As I typed this, Matt Spaeth got called for holding in the Sunday night game. Uh oh. Quick change the subject ... Did you hear Decker had a 4-TD game?!

-Minnesota got a big commitment Friday that really excites the Classy Gentlemen. Welcome to the team, Khari Blasingame! If you don't know why this commitment (specifically, his last name) is exciting for us, you need to watch this clip now. Expect parodies of this classic skit from Recession Proof in the future. "I'm Khari Blasingame, yes, the Gopher defensive back! You wouldn't let your neighbor intercept a pass so why would you let an egg-sucking Badger do it?!"