Buckeyes rack up Big Ten honors
Five of six of the top post-season awards given to Big Ten players were given to Buckeyes yesterday by the conference coaches.Orlando Pace, Ohio State’s junior left tackle, was named Offensive Player of the Year and Offensive Lineman of the Year. Shawn Springs, junior cornerback, was named Defensive Player of the Year.Mike Vrabel, senior defensive end, was named Defensive Lineman of the Year. Andy Katzenmoyer, middle linebacker, shared Freshman of the Year honors with Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne.All four were also named first team all-Big Ten along with senior defensive end Matt Finkes. Named to the second team were junior tailback Pepe Pearson, senior center Juan Porter, senior nose guard Luke Fickell and senior linebacker Greg Bellisari.Junior quarterback Stanley Jackson and sophomore strong safety Damon Moore were listed as honorable mention.Other offensive first-team players include: quarterback Steve Schnur of Northwestern, running backs Darnell Autry of Northwestern, Sedrick Shaw of Iowa, Curtis Enis of Penn State, center Rod Payne of Michigan, guards Justin Chabot of Northwestern and Damon Denson of Michigan, tackle Ross Verba of Iowa, tight end Jermane Tuman of Michigan, receivers D’Wayne Bates of Northwestern and Brian Alford of Purdue and placekicker Brett Conway of Penn State.Other defensive first-team players include: linemen William Carr of Michigan and Tarek Saleh of Wisconsin, linebackers Jarrett Irons of Michigan, Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern, Pete Monty of Wisconsin, and defensive backs Charles Woodson of Michigan, Brian Miller and Kim Herring of Penn State and punter Nick Gallery of Iowa.
