{"id":69613,"date":"2024-12-04T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=69613"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:33:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:33:18","slug":"gabriel-carter-headline-the-2024-big-ten-individual-honors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/12\/04\/gabriel-carter-headline-the-2024-big-ten-individual-honors\/","title":{"rendered":"Gabriel, Carter Headline the 2024 Big Ten Individual Honors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The conference has announced the 2024 Big Ten individual honors. Earlier Tuesday, the conference announced its All-Big Ten teams<\/a>, led by Ohio State and Oregon. With that, the Big Ten individual honors were announced and three players (and one coach) took home multiple awards. Penn State, Ohio State, and Iowa led the way with three awards taken home.<\/p>\n

The 2024 Big Ten Individual Honors Have Been Announced<\/h2>\n

Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Dillon Gabriel, Oregon<\/h3>\n

Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Dillon Gabriel, Oregon<\/h3>\n

The best player on the best team<\/a>, Dillon Gabriel<\/a> has been phenomenal for the Ducks this year. In the unbeaten regular season, Gabriel led the Big Ten with 3,275 passing yards and completed a Big Ten-best 73.5 percent of his passes. Additionally, he threw 24 touchdown passes. No player in college football history has scored more times than Gabriel. He is within striking distance for career passing yards, passing touchdowns, and total offensive yards.<\/p>\n

Naturally, Gabriel is the first Oregon player to win either the Graham-George or Griese-Brees awards.<\/p>\n

Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Abdul Carter, Penn State<\/h3>\n

Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Abdul Carter, Penn State<\/h3>\n

One of the top defenders in all of college football, Abdul Carter<\/a> was the easy choice for both defensive player of the year and defensive linemen of the year awards in the Big Ten. His move from linebacker to edge rusher could not have gone smoother. He finished the season with 54 tackles, a Big Ten-leading 19.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, three pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.<\/p>\n

If Penn State is going to upset Oregon and win the Big Ten for the first time since 2016, Carter is going to have to have a big day. Carter is the seventh Nittany Lion to win the Nagurski-Woodson and the sixth to win the Smith-Brown.<\/p>\n

Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State<\/h3>\n

Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State<\/h3>\n

Easily the greatest freshman in Ohio State history, Jeremiah Smith<\/a> continues the streak of Ohio State being etched into the trophy. He is the second Buckeye to win the award, extending the current streak to three years. Smith is the 11th Buckeye to take home the Thompson Randel El as well.<\/p>\n

The talented freshman ended his regular season with 934 yards and a Big Ten-leading 10 touchdowns off 57 yards. He obliterated any reasonable or even bullish projections<\/a> for his season. Needless to say, he has a bright future in Columbus.<\/p>\n

Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year (coaches vote):\u00a0<\/strong>Curt Cignetti, Indiana<\/h3>\n

Dave McClain Coach of the Year (media vote):\u00a0<\/strong>Curt Cignetti, Indiana<\/h3>\n

Leading Indiana to 11 wins might net Curt Cignetti not only Big Ten recognition but national awards as well. The brash, confident coach became the third coach (and fourth award given) from Indiana.<\/p>\n

In just one season, Cignetti has led the Hoosiers from 3-9 a year ago to 11-1 and an all-but-guaranteed spot in the College Football Playoff. Whether or not Indiana gets through the quarterfinals is irrelevant at this point. Indiana is in good hands.<\/p>\n

Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Kaleb Johnson, Iowa<\/h3>\n

The Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year award has only been around since 2011 but Kaleb Johnson<\/a> joins a loaded group of winners. The NFL-bound back became the first Iowa Hawkeye to win the award. He put together a season where he rushed for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns (both Big Ten bests) off 240 rushes.<\/p>\n

Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Tyler Warren, Penn State<\/h3>\n

The do-it-all tight end for the Nittany Lions, Tyler Warren<\/a> is racking up awards this year. Warren is a finalist for the Mackey Award and made a strong case to be First-Team All-American at his position. As a receiver, he hauled in 81 passes for 978 yards and six touchdowns. He added 189 yards and four touchdowns on the ground as a runner.<\/p>\n

Warren is the second Nittany Lion to win the award.<\/p>\n

Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Aireontae Ersery, Minnesota<\/h3>\n

Airoentae Ersery<\/a> was a force on the Minnesota offensive line. He helped the Golden Gophers with a strong season as a run blocker. According to Pro Football Focus, he earned a 79.9 grade as a run blocker. As a pass protector, he allowed just 13 pressures and one sack on the year.<\/p>\n

Ersery is just the second Minnesota player to win the Rimington-Pace.<\/p>\n

Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Jay Higgins, Iowa<\/h3>\n

After leading the Big Ten in assisted tackles last year, Jay Higgins<\/a> did it again this year. He finished the regular season with 69 assisted tackles, 118 total tackles, two-and-a-half tackles for loss, one sack, four interceptions, five pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.<\/p>\n

Higgins is the third Iowa linebacker to win the award.<\/p>\n

Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Caleb Downs, Ohio State<\/h3>\n

One of the more dynamic defenders in college football, Caleb Downs<\/a> transferred in from Alabama and made an immediate impact<\/a> on the Buckeyes’ defense. Coming down from his safety spot, Downs recorded 62 tackles, six-and-a-half tackles for loss, half of a sack, three pass breakups, and an interception. He added a punt return touchdown in the win over Indiana.<\/p>\n

Downs becomes just the second Ohio State defensive back to take home the award.<\/p>\n

Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Dominic Zvada, Michigan<\/h3>\n

A Michigan kicker has won the Bakken-Anderson in three of the last four years. Dominic Zvada<\/a> transferred to Michigan after an incredible two-year career with Arkansas State. This year, Zvada converted in 25-of-26 extra points and made 17 of his 18 field goal attempts. The most impressive part of his season was that he was perfect from beyond 50 yards, making all seven attempts.<\/p>\n

Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong>Eddie Czaplicki, USC<\/h3>\n

Punters are people, too and Eddie Czaplicki<\/a> has been one of the best punters in the country this year. He launched 40 punts to the tune of 48.5 yards per punt. Czaplicki only allowed one touchback and pinned opponents inside the 20 on 24 punts. He hit his season-long of 62 yards in the loss to Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year<\/strong>: Kaden Wetjen, Iowa<\/h3>\n

Last year, the Hawkeyes got a taste of what Kaden Wetjen<\/a> could do as a returner. This year, he was given full control. He returned 25 kicks for an average of 25 yards each. As a punt returner, Wetjen returned 25 punts for 12.5 yards a pop and scored once.<\/p>\n

Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award:\u00a0<\/strong>Madieu Williams, Maryland<\/h3>\n

Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award:\u00a0<\/strong>Russell Wilson, Wisconsin<\/h3>\n
\"big
Photo courtesy: Chris Pietsch\/The Register-Guard \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Big Ten individual honors have been released. Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa lead the way with three awards each.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":69672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2,35631,17,35610,35603],"tags":[7983,5144,641,319,695,279,167,73,277,309,84],"class_list":["post-69613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","category-michigan-wolverines","category-news","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","category-usc-trojans","tag-big-ten-football","tag-curt-cignetti","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-iowa-hawkeyes","tag-maryland-terrapins","tag-michigan-wolverines","tag-minnesota-golden-gophers","tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-oregon-ducks","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-usc-trojans"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69613"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69674,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69613\/revisions\/69674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}