Ball State University football team's regular season is over, meaning it is time to hand out some hardware. So without further ado...
Most Valuable Player:No question on this one, it has got to be sophomore quarterback Nate Davis. He finished the season with 3,376 yards, a Ball State record and 13th-most in the country ahead of quarterbacks like Andre Woodson from the University of Kentucky.
Davis had 27 passing touchdowns, also a Ball State record, placing him ahead of fellow Indiana quarterbacks Curtis Painter of Purdue University and Kellen Lewis of Indiana University.
Had Davis been taken off of the Cardinals roster, the team wouldn't have won four games. That's not a knock on backup Tanner Justice; Davis is just quite possibly the best sophomore quarterback in the country.
Defensive MVP:This is the hardest of them all. Is it B.J. Hill who switched from running back to cornerback this season or is it 31-year old Brandon Crawford?
Hill leads the team with five interceptions and is fourth on the team with 68 tackles. Crawford leads the team with eight sacks and is sixth in tackles with 59.
The nod goes to Crawford for two reasons. First he also leads the team with four forced fumbles and 17 tackles for a loss, showing that he consistently brought pressure on quarterbacks that could have helped Hill make all those interceptions. Second, Hill having 68 tackles means he allowed his fair share of catches and then tackled the receiver.
Receiver of the Year:Darius Hill is a John Mackey Award candidate, but wide receiver Dante Love easily wins. Both have nine touchdowns this season but Love has more catches, 87 to 56, and more yards, 1,229 to 837. Love's 1,229 receiving yards are the fifth-most in the nation, ahead of every receiver in ESPN's Mel Kiper's top five for next year's NFL draft.
Running Back of the Year:Even though freshman Frank Edmonds led the team with 526 rushing yards, MiQuale Lewis easily wins this award. Playing in just four games, Lewis had 447 rushing yards. If he had played all 12 games at that pace, he would have finished the season with 1,341 rushing yards.
Offensive Lineman of the Year:Being on the offensive line means you won't show up in the statistics; however, there is no more important unit in the sport. With no offensive line, the quarterback gets no time to throw and the running back gets no hole to run through.
For Ball State, center Dan Gerberry performed the best this season. As the center, it is his job to call out most of the blocking assignments. Gerberry's leadership has led to Ball State giving up the fourth-least sacks in the MAC.
Defensive Lineman of the Year:As the Defensive MVP Brandon Crawford lays claim to this award.
Linebacker of the Year: When you look at the statistics, one name jumps out from the linebacker position, and that is Bryant Haines. He led the team with 122 tackles, and the next closest is Mike Dorulla at 95. But tackles isn't all Haines did. He dabbled in just about everything. He had nine tackles for a loss, one sack, one interception, two pass deflections and a recovered fumble.
Defensive Back of the Year:The aforementioned B.J. Hill deserves this award. Not only did he lead the team in interceptions with five, but he did a good job of blitzing as he collected six tackles for a loss.
Best Player for His Position:Most people would go with Davis here, but in actuality it is Ball State's punter Chris Miller who deserves this moniker. Miller is currently third in the nation with a 45.82-yard punting average and narrowly missed out on being one of the three finalists for the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation's top punter each year.
Write to Levin at levintblack@gmail.com
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