As Penn State awaits its bowl bid, five Nittany Lions players -- including Mechanicsburg High School grad Jeremy Boone -- were honored by the Big Ten Monday as All-Big Ten performers.
Center A.Q. Shipley, defensive end Maurice Evans, linebacker Dan Connor, cornerback Justin King and Boone, a punter, all received first team accolades.
Guard Rich Ohrnberger and linebacker Sean Lee were named to the second team.
Boone, who led the conference in punting for much of the season, finished second in the Big Ten with a 42.2 yards-per-punt average.
Evans finished the regular season with 21.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks, both good enough to be ranked in the top ten nationally.
The sophomore defensive end from Brooklyn is still just 2.5 sacks away from tying the single season school record and will aim for that in the Nittany Lions bowl game.
Connor, Penn State’s all-time leading tackler, led the Big Ten with 136 tackles, the fourth highest total ever in school history and on Monday was also named a finalist for the prestigious Bednarik award along with LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey and Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis. Connor was also up for the same award a year ago, which was won by former teammate Paul Posluszny.
King led the Big Ten with 17 passes defended in 2007.
Shipley anchored an offensive line that got better as the season went on, and helped the Lions average 399 yards per game.
King, Connor and Boone were first team selections by both the media and coaches. Shipley earned first team honors by the coaches and honorable mention from the media.
Other honorable mention selections were tackle Gerald Cadogan, defensive end Josh Gaines, safety Anthony Scirrotto,
A notable snub may have been tailback Rodney Kinlaw, who gained 1,186 yards, in just over half the season once he secured the job from the departed Austin Scott.
Penn State’s five first team honorees was second to Ohio State’s six.
Other notables on the first team include Michigan quarterback Chad Henne, who beat out Ohio State’s Todd Boeckman for the honors.
Illinois Rashard Mendenhall won the Offensive Player of the Year honors, Michigan’s Jake Long took home the Offensive Lineman of the Year award, while Laurinaitis won the Defensive Player of the Year award. Illinois star freshman Arrelious Benn, who had a 97-yard kickoff return against Penn State won Freshman of the Year award.
Penn State also announced that senior quarterback Anthony Morelli was selected as the winner of the Penn State Sportsmanship award.
The Nittany Lions are likely to land in either the Alamo or the Champs Sports Bowl at the end of December. It will be the 34th bowl under head coach Joe Paterno, who will coach in his 500th career game in the bowl.
