Dec. 10, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Five Penn State football student-athletes have been named All-Big Ten as selected by ESPN.com and BigTenNetwork.com. In addition, BTN.com selected Bill O'Brien the Big Ten Coach of the Year and defensive end Deion Barnes (Philadelphia) the conference's Freshman of the Year.
A total of five Nittany Lions were selected to the ESPN.com team and four made the BTN.com squad. Penn State's five honorees on the ESPN.com squad were second-highest in the conference.
Four Penn State players are on both the ESPN.com and BTN.com teams: senior defensive tackle Jordan Hill (Steelton), senior Michael Mauti (Mandeville, La.), sophomore Allen Robinson (Southfield, Mich.) and senior center Matt Stankiewitch (Orwigsburg). In addition, freshman tight end Kyle Carter (Bear, Del.) was named to the ESPN.com squad.
Mauti recently was selected to the AT&T ESPN All-America Team and Hill was named a second-team All-American by Athlon Sports.
Last month, Hill, Mauti and Robinson and were selected first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media. Stankiewitch and junior guard John Urschel (Williamsville, N.Y.) were selected to the coaches' first-team and Carter was named to the media first-team.
The coaches and media also selected Nittany Lions for five individual awards, with O'Brien capturing the Dave McClain Coach of the Year (media vote) and the Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year. Last Saturday, the first-year head coach was announced as the AT&T ESPN National Coach of the Year. He is a finalist for three national coach of the year honors: the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year and the Maxwell Football Club's Collegiate Coach of the Year. O'Brien also is on the Watch List for the Bear Bryant National Coach of the Year.
In addition, Mauti was selected the Big Ten Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year, Robinson was named the Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year and Barnes was the conference's Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year.
The Nittany Lions won eight of their final 10 games, earning an 8-4 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the Big Ten, with the only losses coming to division winners Ohio State and Nebraska. In its final game, Penn State beat eventual Big Ten Champion Wisconsin, 24-21, in overtime on Senior Day.
Penn State was first among teams receiving votes in the Dec. 2 Associated Press Top 25 rankings.
Season tickets are available for the 2013 season. The Nittany Lions will host three teams that finished in the 2012 BCS Top 25: Michigan (Oct. 12-Homecoming), Nebraska (Nov. 23) and Kent State (Sept. 21). For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can call 1-800-648-8269 (1-800-NITTANY) weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Penn State Athletics is on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pennstatenittanylions) and Twitter (http://www.gopsusports.com/ot/twitter.html).