Blog Ten Dean’s List – Week 12

Saturday was the last day of the regular season for everyone in the Big Ten except for Wisconsin (one game left against Hawaii) and Illinois (games against Cincinnati and Fresno State) which means that all the grades are in, and this will be the last Dean’s List of the regular season.

Though it won’t be the last time I heap accolades on players throughout the conference as after Wisconsin and Illinois finish their seasons I’ll have the Blog Ten All-Conference teams, and there will be a Dean’s List following bowl season.

For now, though, we’ll take a look at the stars from this past Saturday.

Mike Kafka – QB – Northwestern - It was a very nice finish to the regular season for Kafka and the Wildcats as they won their last three games, including two against ranked teams in Iowa and Wisconsin on Saturday.  Kafka threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns to cap off what was a very nice senior season for the Wildcats quarterback.  He also earned Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance.

Andrew Brewer – WR – Northwestern - Somebody had to be on the receiving end of Kafka’s passes on Saturday, and the majority of the time it was Brewer.  Oddly enough, the last time Brewer played against the Badgers he was playing quarterback for the Wildcats.  On Saturday he was finding holes in the secondary and making six catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Stefan Demos – K – Northwestern - Kickers have to have big days if they’re going to make the Dean’s List, and Demos kicked four field goals for Northwestern on Saturday, which turned out to be pretty huge given Wisconsin’s comeback effort at the end.  If not for Demos, the Wildcats do not win that game, so I have to put him on the list.

Garrett Graham – TE – Wisconsin - The Badgers may have lost on Saturday, but it was another solid game for Graham.  I’m not sure what it is about Madison, but that town seems to produce a lot of good tight ends, and Graham is just the latest.  He had six receptions for 98 yards and two touchdowns against Northwestern.

Kurt Coleman – S – Ohio State – There really weren’t any standouts on offense for the Buckeyes during their win over Michigan on Saturday — the Buckeyes had to punt nine times after all — but with the performance of their defense, they didn’t need any.  While just about every Buckeye defender had a good day, Coleman stood out with his two interceptions and helped solidify his case for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Roy Roundtree – WR – Michigan - The Wolverines weren’t able to pull off the upset and get to that sixth win against Ohio State, but it wasn’t because of Mr. Roundtree.  Roy finished the game with nine catches for 116 yards and accounted for 38% of the Wolverines offensive output.

Daryll Clark – QB – Penn State - Admit it, you were starting to think I was going to leave Clark off this list.  That would basically be impossible to do considering that Clark threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns to help the Nittany Lions torch the Spartans in East Lansing on Saturday evening.  After a slow start in the first half, the senior captain picked the Michigan State secondary apart for what could have been his best performance of the season.

Evan Royster – RB – Penn State - It’s weird, Royster has been so good during his career in Happy Valley that when you see he ran the ball 13 times for 114 yards without a touchdown your first reaction is he didn’t have that great of a day.  Still, while Michigan State’s secondary has been a problem spot for the team all season, their run defense has been pretty solid, but Evan still ran on them with ease to get over 1,000 yards on the season.

Navorro Bowman – LB – Penn State - The Penn State linebacker finished his career — sorry, but he’s so gone it’s not even funny — with a flurry.  For the second straight week Bowman gets the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week nod after his ten tackles (3.5 for loss) a sack, and a pass defended on Saturday.

Troy Johnson – LB – Iowa - You could put the entire Hawkeyes defense here for their shutout against Minnesota on Saturday, but Johnson had the biggest day.  I haven’t seen somebody go after Gophers with such tenacity since Carl Spackler as Johnson had 11 tackles, a sack, a pass defended, a fumble forced and a fumble recovered.

Joey Elliott – QB – Purdue – It’s a shame Elliott only got one season to man the helm for the Purdue offense, because even in a losing season, Elliott had a fantastic year for the Boilermakers.  In his final college start, Elliott threw for only 205 yards but did connect on four touchdown passes.

Jaycen Taylor – RB – Purdue - The Boilermaker running back ended his college career with quite the statement this weekend.  Twenty carries for 110 yards to go along with seven receptions, 59 yards and a touchdown.  That’s 169 total yards for Taylor which made up 51% of Purdue’s total offense against Indiana.

Darius Willis – RB – Indiana - It was another losing season for the Hoosiers, but if there’s any consolation, it’s that they still have three more years of this young man.  Willis finished up his freshman season by rushing for 142 yards against Boilermakers and is one of the reasons to think that Indiana can get back to a bowl game next season.