Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

It's award season for college football and since our boys mostly get overlooked at the national level, I wanted to hand out my own hardware to recognize greatness (truly a great honor indeed). Mostly I just think it's fun to look back at the season that was, and I'm curious who you guys would pick. Feel free to add any awards you want.

Offensive POY - Travis Greene
Johnson and Lewis are the obvious picks here, but Greene really carried us down the stretch. I heard some rumblings about how Matty J "regressed" the last few games, but I think defenses just adjusted to stop him. Early in the year he was taking 5-6 deep shots a game and completing 2-3, but I don't think he went deep a single time in the MACCG. Teams started pulling their safeties back and saying, "If you're going to beat us, you'll have to do it on the ground." Travis really stepped up to that challenge; he had 629 yards and 10 TDs over the last 5 games (and that includes the offensive debacle against TSUN). He played great all year though, I remember the big run he had to seal the game late against Buffalo. All in all, when you consider that he played in a pass heavy offense and lost a lot of carries to Coppet and still put up 1200 yards, you realize how impressive he was this year.

Defensive POY - Austin Valdez
Really? This guy was recruited as a quarterback? That just blows my mind considering how good he was this year. 1st team All-MAC and looked and played like the heart and soul of our defense all year long. Tremendous player and seems like a tremendous leader as well. And he's only a sophomore. I'm looking forward to the rest of Austin's career at BG.

Special Teams POY - Joe Davidson
We have a really good punter. Really good. I think we forget to appreciate that sometimes. Davidson was the long bright spot in what was a miserable year for special teams

Coach of the Year - Brian Ward
Last year we started the season by giving up 59 points to Western Kentucky and end by giving up 41 and 51 to Ball State and NIU. This year we started off giving up 59 to Tennessee and finished by giving up a combined 17 points to BSU and NUI's offenses. Obviously there's a lot of factors that play into those numbers, but you can't look at this team and say they didn't improve drastically on defense as the year went on. Coach Ward did a phenomenal job getting the most out of a young and inexperienced group of guys. "BG is bad at defense and we have to outscore people to win" was just kind of the assumption the past two years. But by the end of the season, I don't think you really had any reason to think that. Coach Ward did a great job this year; I'm sad to see him go.

Most Improved - Alfonso Mack
I was super happy to see this guy get a scholarship the other day, he certainly earned it. Got the starting role as a result of injuries and definitely made some mistakes early on. But by the end of the year he was probably one of our best defensive players. I expect him to continue as a full time starter next year and hope he keeps playing at a high level.

Most Regressed - Tyler Tate
Good Lord, can a person just forget how to kick? 93.5% XP, 53.3% FG, 3/9 from beyond 30 yards. Legitimately though after last season that he could have a future in the NFL. That's a laughable thought at this point.

Biggest Surprise - Gehrig Dieter
At this point I'd forgotten how small a role this guy played last year. Coming in he was just another name along with Rhodes and Gallon who would be fighting for playing time and catches behind Lewis, Burbrink, and Moore. But give Dieter credit, he was an absolute stud this year. More than doubled his receptions and yards from last year and had 9 TDs after catching only one in 2014. I definitely didn't expect him to be the threat that he was this year, but he really had an impressive season.

Biggest Disappointment - Robbie Rhodes and Chris Gallon
Combined stats: 10 receptions, 219 yards, 1 TD. So much for the hype.

Most Fun to Watch - Trenton Greene
The guy is maybe 5-9 in his cleats and at first glance one of the least intimidating guys on the field. But he laid the absolute hammer on some people this year! Gonna miss watching him bringing the thunder on some RBs.

Least Fun to Watch - Tyler Tate
I mean, COME ON, MAN!! It got to the point where it's 4th and 8 on the 16 and I'm rooting for Babers to go for it. It was 2012 all over again, where I cringe a little before every extra point...




So what do you guys think? Agree, disagree, have your own awards to add? Who would you pick and why? Because it's fun to reminisce and no one wants to really be productive on a mid-December Friday anyway.

Tyler Tate has certainly underwhelmed, but I'm not sure any of us know how much of it is him and how much of it is the holder and snapper he is working with.

It definitely has been tough to watch. I feel bad for him.

I don't think you can call Gallon a disappointment...he's learning a new position (TE) and they're trying to get him a 6th year. I think they kind of babies him through this year to make sure he's healthy so he can go .....full...force.

Like Jumpin' Jeff Farmer.

From what I heard about Tate, the team went to a silent count this year on placekicking snaps which really messed up his timing. In the end I think it ended up manifesting itself as a major mental issue that he simply couldn't overcome. That being sad, I'm not going to rag on the guy for having an off year as he's an intelligent dude that will be working towards his PhD.

The last few games, I cheered just as hard for the XP as I did for the touchdown. If that doesn't speak volumes, I don't know what does.

I have a few other names for your awards.

Defensive POY - Taylor Royster
This guy didn't rack up a huge number of tackles, but he tied for the most sacks with 6. Everybody talked about Zach Colvin as the difference maker, but Taylor really put the pressure on during the games. At 5'10", 260, he's not the most imposing player, but he certainly got it done.

Biggest Surprise - Derek Lee
Before this season, I had never heard of this guy (makes sense since he was a JUCO transfer). Coming in from playing at North Dakota State, then Butler Community College as a fullback, to being a tight end in a system that didn't really utilize a tight end; let's just say it's shocking to see what production he actually had. Between the shovel passes on the option plays where he got the ball in the middle of 3 defenders and somehow managed 5+ yards, to lead blocking on goal line plays, I'd say we got a great year out of Derek.

I would also say the Biggest Surprise could go to the entire defensive secondary. After losing one or two corners prior to the season, and then losing Darrell Hunter almost immediately, I believe we all thought the secondary would be Swiss cheese.

As for biggest disappointment, I would restrict that to just Rhodes. Came in with all the hype of a big transfer and hasn't done squat and apparently had a bad attitude. Not what you really want or need.