2011 Big Ten Conference Football Season
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The 2011 Big Ten Conference football season is the 116th for the
Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
. The conference started its season on Saturday, September 3, as each of the conference's teams began their respective 2011 season of
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) competition. This season is Nebraska's first season as a member of the Big Ten, and also marks the creation of conference divisions (named Leaders and Legends), and a championship game. The season was also notable for the
Penn State child sex abuse scandal The Penn State child sex abuse scandal concerned allegations and subsequent convictions of child sexual abuse committed by Jerry Sandusky, an assistant coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team, over a period of at least fifteen year ...
. For the season, Leaders Division champion
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
finished as conference champion by defeating Legends Division champion
Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...
in the 2011 Big Ten Football Championship Game.
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
was Leaders Division co-Champion, while Legends Division runner-up
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
finished with the conference's best record. The conference earned two BCS bowl invitations and compiled a 4–6 overall record in 2011–12 NCAA football bowl games. The Conference had six 2011 College Football All-America Team consensus selections: Montee Ball, Kevin Zeitler, David Molk, Whitney Mercilus (unanimous), Devon Still, and Jerel Worthy, with the
Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College Football Awards ...
going to Molk and the Ted Hendricks Award going to Mercilus. Ball won the
Chicago Tribune Silver Football The ''Chicago Tribune'' Silver Football is awarded by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Ill ...
and the conference's players won four national statistical championships:
Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He has primarily played for the Seattle Seahawks. With the Sea ...
( passing efficiency), Raheem Mostert ( kickoff return average), Ball (
scoring SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...
), and Mercilus (
quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...
s). Following the season the conference contributed 41 to the
2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...
, including 4 in the first round: Riley Reiff (23rd), Mercilus (26th), Zeitler (27th), and A. J. Jenkins (30th).


Rankings


Spring games

April 9 *Purdue Boilermakers April 16 *Indiana Hoosiers *Iowa Hawkeyes *Michigan Wolverines *Nebraska Cornhuskers *Northwestern Wildcats *Penn State Nittany Lions April 23 *Illinois Fighting Illini *Minnesota Golden Gophers *Ohio State Buckeyes *Wisconsin Badgers April 30 *Michigan State Spartans


Regular season

All times Eastern time. Rankings reflect that of the AP poll.


Week 1


Week 2


Week 3


Week 4


Week 5


Week 6


Week 7


Week 8


Week 9


Week 10


Week 11


Week 12


Week 13


Big Ten Championship Game


Players of the week


Attendance


Post-season awards and honors


Individual Big Ten Award Winners

* Griese- Brees Quarterback of the Year:
Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He has primarily played for the Seattle Seahawks. With the Sea ...
,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
* Richter-
Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...
Receiver of the Year: Marvin McNutt,
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
* Ameche- Dayne Running Back of the Year: Montee Ball, Wisconsin * Kwalick- Clark Tight End of the Year: Drake Dunsmore, Northwestern *
Rimington Rimington is a rural village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish was 382 at the 2001 Census, however at the 2011 Census Middop was included with Rimington giving a total of 480. It is e ...
- Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year: David Molk,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
* Smith-
Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...
Defensive Lineman of the Year: Devon Still,
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
* Butkus- Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year: Lavonte David,
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
* Tatum- Woodson Defensive Back of the Year: Alfonzo Dennard, Nebraska * Bakken-
Andersen Andersen () is a Danish- Norwegian patronymic surname meaning "son of Anders" (itself derived from the Greek name " Ανδρέας/Andreas", cf. English Andrew). It is the fifth most common surname in Denmark, shared by about 3.2% of the populati ...
Kicker of the Year: Brett Maher, Nebraska * Eddleman-
Fields Fields may refer to: Music *Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006 * Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971 * ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010) * "Fields", a song by ...
Punter of the Year: Brett Maher, Nebraska


All-Big Ten

The following players were named by the coaches.: HONORABLE MENTION: Illinois: Jeff Allen, Jonathan Brown, Derek Dimke, Terry Hawthorne, Ian Thomas; Indiana: Mitch Ewald, Jeff Thomas; Iowa: Broderick Binns, James Ferentz, Eric Guthrie, Micah Hyde, James Morris, Markus Zusevics; Michigan: Kenny Demens, J.T. Floyd, Kevin Koger, Junior Hemingway, Denard Robinson, Fitzgerald Toussaint, Ryan Van Bergen; Michigan State: Denicos Allen,
Le'Veon Bell Le'Veon Andrew Bell Sr. ( ; born February 18, 1992) is an American Professional boxing, professional boxer and former American football, football running back. He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans football, Michigan State ...
, Kenshawn Martin, Trenton Robinson, Marcus Rush; Minnesota: Kim Royston; Nebraska:
Will Compton William Earl Compton III (born September 19, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons (Almost ten). Compton co-hosts a podcast, ''Bussin' Wi ...
, Ben Cotton, Spencer Long, Marcel Jones, Baker Steinkuhler; Northwestern: Jeremy Ebert, Jordan Mabin, Brian Mulroe, Al Netter, Dan Persa, Brian Peters; Ohio State: Johnathan Hankins, Dan Herron, Jack Mewhort, Jake Stoneburner; Penn State: Drew Astorino, Anthony Fera, Jordan Hill, D'Anton Lynn, Derek Moye, Chima Okoli, Chaz Powell, Johnnie Troutman; Purdue: Joe Holland, Dennis Kelly; Wisconsin: Jared Abbrederis, Patrick Butrym, Antonio Fenelus, Peter Konz, Brad Nortman, Jacob Pedersen, Ricky Wagner. The following players were named by the media panel. HONORABLE MENTION: Illinois: Derek Dimke, Terry Hawthorne, Travon Wilson; Indiana: Mitch Ewald; Iowa: Mike Daniels, James Ferentz, Adam Gettis, Eric Guthrie, James Morris, Tyler Nielsen, Shaun Prater, Markus Zusevics; Michigan: Kenny Demens, J.T. Floyd, Kevin Koger, Jordan Kovacs, Taylor Lewan, Craig Roh, Fitzgerald Toussaint, Ryan Van Bergen; Michigan State: Le'Veon Bell, Max Bullough, Dan Conroy, Kirk Cousins, Darqueze Dennard, Brian Linthicum, Chris McDonald, Chris Norman, Kevin Pickelman, Marcus Rush; Minnesota: Chris Bunders, Kim Royston; Nebraska: Mike Caputo, Austin Cassidy, Will Compton, Ben Cotton, Marcel Jones, Cameron Meredith, Daimion Stafford, Baker Steinkuhler; Northwestern: Kain Colter, Jordan Mabin, Brian Mulroe, Al Netter, Dan Persa; Ohio State: C.J. Barnett, Mike Brewster, Johnathan Hankins, Jack Mewhort, Tyler Moeller, Andrew Norwell, Jake Stoneburner, Andrew Sweat; Penn State: Drew Astorino, Quinn Barham, Jack Crawford, Jordan Hill, D'Anton Lynn, Chima Okoli, Chaz Powell, Nate Stupar, Johnnie Troutman; Purdue: Ricardo Allen, Dwayne Beckford, Joe Holland, Dennis Kelly, Carson Wiggs; Wisconsin: Jared Abbrederis, Patrick Butrym, Aaron Henry, Brad Nortman, Nick Toon, Ricky Wagner, Philip Welch.


National Award Winners

* David Molk, Michigan –
Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College Football Awards ...
* Whitney Mercilus, Illinois – Ted Hendricks Award


First Team All-Americans

There are many outlets that award All-America honors in football. The NCAA uses five official selectors to also determine Consensus and Unanimous All-America honors. The five teams used by the NCAA to compile the consensus team are from the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
, the AFCA, the FWAA,
The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
and the
Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit ...
. A point system is used to calculate the consensus honors. The point system consists of three points for first team, two points for second team and three points for third team. No honorable mention or fourth team or lower are used in the computation. The teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named a Consensus All-American. If there is a tie at a position in football for first team then the players who are tied shall be named to the team. A player named first-team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is recognized as a Unanimous All-American.


Academic All-American

The Big Ten led all conferences with 7 Academic All-America selections: 1st team – Rex Burkhead (Nebraska), Austin Cassidy (Nebraska), Patrick Ward (Northwestern) and Joe Holland (Purdue); 2nd team – Mike Sadler (Michigan State), Sean Fisher (Nebraska) and Jacob Schmidt (Northwestern). Cassidy was one of four repeat first-team winners, while Holland was a 2010 second-team selection.


Bowl games


2012 NFL Draft

The conference lost 4 players in the first round of the NFL Draft: A total of 41 Big Ten players were drafted.


Head coaches

* Ron Zook and Vic Koenning (for bowl game), Illinois * Kevin R. Wilson, Indiana *
Kirk Ferentz Kirk James Ferentz (born August 1, 1955) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since the 1999 season. From 1990 to 1992, Ferentz was the head football coach at the Universi ...
, Iowa * Brady Hoke, Michigan *
Mark Dantonio Mark Justin Dantonio (born March 9, 1956) is an American college football coach and former player. His most recent head coaching position was at Michigan State University, a position he had held from 2007 to 2019. He led the Michigan State Spar ...
, Michigan State * Jerry Kill, Minnesota *
Bo Pelini Mark Anthony "Bo" Pelini (born December 13, 1967) is a former American football coach and former player. He was most recently the defensive coordinator for the LSU Tigers football, Louisiana State University Tigers football team. He is the youn ...
, Nebraska *
Pat Fitzgerald Patrick William Fitzgerald Jr. (born December 2, 1974) is an American former football player and coach. He served as the head football coach of the Northwestern Wildcats from July 2006 until he was fired in July 2023 in the aftermath of a hazi ...
, Northwestern * Luke Fickell, Ohio State *
Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...
(first nine games) and Tom Bradley (last three games), Penn State * Danny Hope, Purdue * Bret Bielema, Wisconsin
Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...
was fired as head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions on November 9 in the wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.


Notes

* July 28–29, 2011 – Media Days in Chicago.


References


Sources

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