Nov. 30, 2015
2015 All-Big Ten Defensive Teams & Awards
Highlighting Penn State's All-Big Ten Defense Honorees (Videos & More)
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Senior defensive end Carl Nassib (West Chester, Pa.) has been selected as the Big Ten's Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of the conference's coaches. Nassib also earned first team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and media, while junior defensive tackle Austin Johnson (Galloway, N.J.) was named to the All-Big Ten second team by the media and third team by the coaches. Senior defensive tackle Anthony Zettel (West Branch, Mich.) claimed a spot on both all-conference third teams.
Additionally, sophomore safety Marcus Allen (Upper Marlboro, Md.), sophomore linebacker Jason Cabinda (Flemington, N.J.), sophomore cornerback Grant Haley (Atlanta, Ga.) and senior cornerback Trevor Williams (Baltimore, Md.) were selected All-Big Ten honorable mention. Ben Kline (Seven Valleys, Pa.) was named Penn State's Sportsmanship homoree.
The offensive All-Big Ten accolades will be handed out on BTN Live tomorrow from 6-7 p.m.
Nassib is the sixth Nittany Lion to take home Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolades since 1998. He joins LaVar Arrington (1998), Courtney Brown (1999), Michael Haynes (2002), Jared Odrick (2009) and Devon Still (2011) on the list of Penn State honorees. Nassib also brings home the 81st All-Big Ten first team in program history. The Nittany Lions have had at least one first team All-Big Ten selection in each of the last 11 years.
"[Winning this award], it's incredible. I'm so happy to be here and represent Penn State the right way," Nassib said. "I love being a Penn State football player; getting to come to work every day is a blast. I've been really blessed to be here and have this opportunity, and prove yourself and work hard and just get better."
A former walk-on, Nassib is a finalist for a quartet of national awards - Lombardi Award (nation's top lineman or linebacker), Nagurski Trophy (nation's top defensive player), Bednarik Award (nation's top defensive player) and Burlsworth Trophy (top player that started his career as a walk-on). Despite playing only six snaps in the last two games due to injury, Nassib leads FBS in sacks (15.5) and forced fumbles (6) and is second in FBS and first in the Big Ten in tackles for loss (19.5). With one sack at Northwestern, Nassib broke the Penn State single-season sacks record by upping his total to 15.5. He surpasses the mark of 15 sacks set by Larry Kubin (1979) and Michael Haynes (2002).
Additionally, Nassib's six forced fumbles this season are the most by a Penn State player since Haynes had a school-record seven in the 2002. Nassib is the first Penn State player to force two fumbles in two games in a season since Maurice Evans did it in 2007. Evans had two forced fumbles against Indiana and two forced fumbles against Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl. Nassib was a midseason All-America choice by SI.com, ESPN.com, USAToday.com and CBS Sports.
Johnson, who was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in 2014, has been a force up front for the Nittany Lions with 70 tackles, which is third on the team. He also has 5.5 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss this season. His 70 stops are third among defensive tackles in FBS. Johnson has the most tackles by a Penn State defensive lineman since Cameron Wake had 71 stops in 2003. Johnson has four outings this season with at least nine tackles. Johnson is also second on the team with 13.0 tackles for loss. He registered his first career touchdown with a 71-yard fumble return. The fumble recovery was the fourth of his career and Penn State's first fumble recovery for a touchdown since Mike Hull's 74-yard return vs. Navy in 2012. He tallied a career-high 10 tackles, including eight solo stops, at Northwestern. He also had a sack and two tackles for loss against the Wildcats.
Zettel collects his second All-Big Ten honor of his career after a bid on the first team last season. He ranks eighth on the team with 43 tackles, third in sacks (3.0) and fourth in tackles for loss (10.0). Zettel is tied for eighth on Penn State's career sacks list (19.0) and is 10th on the program's career tackles for loss chart (37). Zettel made five tackles against Buffalo and deflected a pass that Carl Nassib grabbed for an interception in the second quarter. In the next game against San Diego State, he registered seven tackles, including 2.5 TFLs, on his way to earning Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week. He registered a career-high eight tackles versus Maryland.
Allen has become a leader in the secondary for the Nittany Lions as he ranks second on the team with 75 tackles in 11 games. He also recorded 3.5 TFLs and a sack in the regular season to go along with two pass breakups and two pass defenses. Allen posted his first career fumble recovery against Maryland and forced his first career fumble at Northwestern. He tied his career high with 11 stops against Rutgers as the Nittany Lions held the Scarlet Knights to just three points, the fewest allowed in a Big Ten opener by Penn State since 1994.
Cabinda moved to the mike linebacker position after a season-ending injury to Nyeem Wartman-White in the opener. Cabinda has excelled in his new leadership role and leads the team with 92 tackles to compliment five pass breakups and six passes defended, which both rank second on the team. His 7.7 tackles per game average ranks 15th in the Big Ten. Cabinda made a career- and season-high 14 tackles against Army. He recorded his first career sack and forced fumble on the same play in the first quarter and then sacked Army quarterback A.J. Schurr on fourth-and-5 on the Black Knights final drive of the game to seal the victory. He tied for the team lead with nine tackles and had a pass breakup against Indiana. Cabinda recorded 10 tackles for his second career 10-plus tackle game and had one quarterback hurry against Maryland. He closed out the regular season with 13 stops at No. 5 Michigan State.
After missing the first two games of the season, Haley has found his rhythm in the secondary for the Nittany Lions. He leads the team with seven pass breakups and nine passes defended. He also has a pair of interceptions, which is tied for the team lead with John Reid. Haley pulled in interceptions against Rutgers and Maryland, while forcing his first career fumble at Northwestern. Haley had a career-best six tackles and two pass breakups against Michigan.
Williams is honorable mention All-Big Ten for the second consecutive season. He has started every game for the Nittany Lions, producing 31 tackles, 3.0 TFLs with one interception, three pass breakups and three passes defended. He surpassed his career total in tackles for loss with 2.0 TFL as part of his career-high six tackles in the season opener at Temple. Williams collected five solo tackles against Buffalo and made three stops against Indiana, Maryland, Northwestern and Michigan.
Kline saw his first game action since 2013 when he took the field against Army on October 3. He has served as the President of Penn State's Uplifting Athletes chapter for the last two years. In 2014, Uplifting Athletes raised a record-breaking $140,000 for Kidney Cancer Awareness and Research at its Lift for Life event. Overall, the group raised a record $155,000 total in 2014. The 2015 Penn State Lift for Life had approximately 2,500 fans in attendance and raised $120,000. Kline was among a contingent of Nittany Lion football student-athletes to visit Washington D.C. for Rare Disease Awareness Day in the winter 2014. He is also involved in THON and Special Olympics during his time at Penn State. He is also the co-founding a student organization this summer that benefits an orphanage in Kenya. The orphanage has an academic partnership with Penn State, and Kline's organization supports that relationship.
The Nittany Lions are bowl eligible for the 46th time. Penn State's 45 bowl appearances are the ninth-most among FBS schools at the start of the season. The announcement of the bowl game and opponent will be announced Sunday, Dec. 6. Fans can visit Penn State's Bowl Central at GoPSUsports.com/bowlcentral for more information.