All-MAC Teams and Awards Announced....

The All-MAC teams and awards were announced.  I thought our Falcons had a good day, and I don't personally notice anything that I think is an oversight as it relates to BG.

The headline is that Anthon Samuel was the Freshman of the Year, which is a great honor for him and our program.  When we did the MAC Roundtable last week, I noted he was the only Freshman near the top in a major statistical category, and the WR from CMU others were touting had played a couple nice games, but was not in Samuel's league for the whole year.

The award is relatively new, but I am not sure a Falcon has ever won freshman of the year.  (UPDATE:  The Blade's John Wagner says Brian McClure and Kurt Gerling were also freshman of the year for BG).

Four Falcons were first team All-MAC...the first time that has happened since the 2004 squad (Omar Jacobs, Rob Warren, Jovon Burkes and Keon Newson) and was second only to Toledo (5).

Kamar Jorden, WR
Chris Jones, DT
Dwayne Woods, LB
Brian Schmeidebusch, P

Other Falcons named All-MAC include...

Boo Boo Gates, 2nd Team, kick returner.
Ben Bojicic, 3rd team, C

Four of these six players will return next season.

In the overall awards, here were the winners.

Vern Smith Leadership Award Winner:  QB Chandler Harnish, Northern Illinois
Coach of the Year:  Ron English, Eastern Michigan
Offensive Player of the Year: QB Chandler Harnish, Northern Illinois
Defensive Player of the Year: DL Drew Nowak, Western Michigan
Special Teams Player of the Year: K Matt Weller, Ohio
Freshman of the Year: RB Anthon Samuel, Bowling Green

My comments would include....

Harnish was a clear choice and to my mind, obvious.  I know my colleagues disagreed in the Roundtable last week, but he was just an undeniable choice, especially as they come back to win the West again this year, with very little defensive support.

I would have picked Lembo over English because I think EMU was overrated, but you can't quibble with the choice too much.

While Matt Weller was very good, I think Eric Page probably deserved one of the major awards, and this was the one, but again, you can't say Weller was undeserving.

The rest of the MAC teams can be found here.

Congrats to all the honored Falcons.  If you are a senior, best of luck in what I hope are joyful and meaningful lives, and if you are returning, let's make next year very special.