8 — Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Peppers, Lewis make All-Big Ten team
Other Wolverines
also earned second-
and third-team
honors
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
The Michigan football team’s
defense succeeded for most of
the year with strong play from
all three units. But on Monday,
when the Big Ten announced its
all-conference defensive teams,
the secondary led the way.
Junior cornerback Jourdan
Lewis and redshirt freshman
safety Jabrill Peppers were the
Wolverines’ representatives on
the All-Big Ten team. Peppers
also earned the Thompson-
Randle El Freshman of the
Year award. The Big Ten will
announce
its
all-conference
offensive teams Tuesday night.
Along with senior safety
Jarrod Wilson, redshirt junior
cornerback Jeremy Clark and
the help of other players off
the bench, Lewis and Peppers
led one of the best defensive
backfields in the country. The
Wolverines ranked third in the
nation with 158.8 passing yards
allowed per game, trailing only
Georgia and San Jose State.
Four times, they gave up fewer
than 100 in a game.
Lewis
broke
a
Michigan
single-season record with 19
pass breakups. He added two
interceptions, one of which
he returned for a touchdown
against
Northwestern.
The
Detroit native also finished
fourth on the team with 46
tackles.
Peppers, meanwhile, made
an impact all over the field.
He spent most of his time on
defense, where he broke up 10
passes and added 45 tackles (5.5
for loss). He also averaged 11.4
yards on 17 punt returns and
27.9 yards on eight kick returns,
breaking several big plays and
narrowly missing touchdowns
several times.
Finally, on Oct. 17 against
Michigan State, the Wolverines
tried to mix Peppers in on
offense, mostly with success.
He finished with 18 carries for
72 yards and two touchdowns,
as well as eight receptions for 79
yards. His presence in all three
phases of the game allowed
him to finish fifth on the team
in all-purpose yardage, despite
playing mostly defense.
Peppers is in good company
among
Michigan’s
other
Freshmen of the Year: Charles
Woodson
in
1995,
Anthony
Thomas in 1997, Steve Breaston
in 2003 and Mike Hart in 2004.
The Wolverines also placed
members on the second and third
teams. Redshirt junior defensive
lineman Chris Wormley (third
team, coaches), Peppers (second-
team return specialist, coaches)
and senior kicker Kenny Allen
(third team, media) were all
recognized.
Fifth-year
senior
quarterback Jake Rudock was
Michigan’s
sportsmanship
honoree. All in all, the Wolverines
had a much stronger presence on
the end-of-season awards list
than in recent years.
No other team had two
players selected to both the
media and the coaches’ first
teams. Ohio State featured four
players on at least one team:
linebacker Raekwon McMillan
(media), Joshua Perry (coaches),
safety Vonn Bell (media) and
defensive end Joey Bosa, a
member of both.
Bosa was the conference’s
Defensive
Lineman
of
the
Year, joining Michigan State’s
Shilique
Calhoun,
Penn
State’s Carl Nassib — the Big
Ten’s Defensive Player of the
Year, despite not winning the
defensive lineman award — and
Maryland’s Yannick Ngakoue on
the first team.
The
linebackers
were
Wisconsin’s
Joe
Schobert
(the Linebacker of the Year),
Northwestern’s
Anthony
Walker and a split between
McMillan and Perry.
Iowa’s Desmond King won
the Defensive Back of the Year
award. Bell and Maryland’s Will
Likely, the coaches’ selection,
shared the last spot on the first
team.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Junior cornerback Jourdan Lewis had 19 pass breakups this season on his way to being named to the All-Big Ten team.