The Big Ten announced its defensive award winners for the 2015 football season Monday. The Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes dominated the first team lists, which isn't a surprise given their strong defense play. The offensive award winners will be announced Tuesday. One quick note; for first team defense, a player was named to both the media and coaches list unless otherwise noted. With that in mind, here are the Big Ten Defensive Award Winners and First Team members.
Defensive Player Of The Year:
Penn State DE Carl Nassib
Nassib led a strong Penn State defense this season. Despite missing the last two games of the season, racked up 46 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks. He led the NCAA in TFL and sacks. Nassib being named Defensive Player Of The Year shouldn't come as a surprise.
Freshman Of The Year:
Michigan DB Jabrill Peppers
Peppers did a little bit of everything for Michigan. It's his second year at the school, but he received a medical redshirt after playing in only three games last season. He started every game at safety and even contributed on returns and offense. On defense, Peppers had 45 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 10 pass breakups. He racked up 417 total return yards and the coaches voted him to the second-team special teams list (see below). Peppers added a dynamic element on offense, carrying the ball 18 times for 72 yards and two scores. He also added eight catches for 79 yards.
First Team Defense:
Maryland DL Yannick Ngakoue
Michigan State DL Shilique Calhoun
Ohio State DL Joey Bosa
Penn State DL Carl Nassib
Northwestern LB Anthony Walker Jr.
Ohio State LB Raekwon McMillan (media only)
Ohio State LB Joshua Perry (coaches only)
Wisconsin LB Joe Schobert
Iowa DB Desmond King
Michigan DB Jourdan Lewis
Michigan DB Jabrill Peppers
Ohio State DB Vonn Bell (media only)
Maryland DB William Likely (coaches only)
Second Team Defense:
Michigan State DL Malik McDowell
Northwestern DL Dean Lowry
Ohio State DL Adolphus Washington
Nebraska DL Maliek Collins (coaches only)
Penn State DL Austin Johnson (media only)
Iowa LB Josey Jewell
Ohio State LB Darron Lee (coaches only)
Ohio State LB Raekwon McMillan (coaches only)
Michigan State LB Riley Bullough (media only)
Ohio State LB Joshua Perry (media only)
Northwestern DB Nick VanHoose
Wisconsin DB Michael Caputo
Ohio State DB Eli Apple (coaches only)
Ohio State DB Vonn Bell (coaches only)
Illinois DB Clayton Fejedelem (media only)
Maryland DB William Likely (media only)
Third Team Defense:
Penn State DL Anthony Zettel
Iowa DL Nate Meier
Michigan DL Chris Wormley (coaches only)
Penn State DL Austin Johnson (coaches only)
Nebraska DL Maliek Collins (media only)
Northwestern DL Deonte Gibson (media only)
Wisconsin LB Vince Biegel
Michigan State LB Riley Bullough (coaches only)
Michigan State LB Darien Harris (coaches only)
Ohio State LB Darron Lee (media only)
Rutgers LB Steve Longa (media only)
Minnesota DB Eric Murray
Northwestern DB Matthew Harris
Iowa DB Jordan Lomax (coaches only)
Michigan State DB Demetrious Cox (coaches only)
Minnesota DB Briean Boddy-Calhoun (media only)
Nebraska DB Nate Gerry (media only)
First Team Special Teams:
Indiana Kicker Griffin Oakes
Nebraska Punter Sam Oakes
Maryland Returner Will Likely
Second Team Special Teams:
Iowa Kicker Marshall Koehn (coaches only)
Nebraska Kicker Drew Brown (media only)
Ohio State Punter Cameron Johnston
Michigan Returner Jabrill Peppers (coaches only)
Rutgers Returner Janarion Grant (media only)
Third Team Special Teams:
Minnesota Kicker Ryan Santoso (coaches only)
Michigan Kicker Kenny Allen (media only)
Minnesota Punter Peter Mortell
Rutgers Returner Janarion Grant (coaches only)
Northwestern Returner Solomon Vault (media only)