West Virginia University Football Coach Bill Stewart has announced the team award winners for the 2009 season.
Noel Devine and Jock Sanders were named the team’s offensive co-players of the year, and Reed Williams was honored as the team’s defensive player of the season. The Scott Shirley award for special teams excellence went to Scott Kozlowski.
Devine broke the 1,000-yard rushing barrier for the second year in a row, posting 1,297 yards on 225 carries, an average of 5.8 yards per rush and 12 touchdowns. He also has 20 receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown. The unanimous first-team all-BIG EAST Conference selection rushed for 100 or more yards in six games, including a career-high 220 yards against Colorado.
Sanders led the receiving corps with 70 catches for 674 yards and three touchdowns. He was the fourth-leading rusher on the team with 168 yards on 34 carries, an average of 4.9 yards per carry and a touchdown. Sanders was No. 2 in the BIG EAST Conference in receptions per game and No. 7 in receiving yards per game.
Williams was the team’s fourth-leading tackler with 57 tackles, including 22 solo stops, two sacks and five tackles for loss. He finished with a forced fumble and seven pass breakups. He was named the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team for the second time and was one of 16 national scholar athletes in all divisions of college football selected by the National Football Foundation.
Kozlowski led the BIG EAST for the entire season and is ranked No. 6 nationally in punting average. He finished the season with a 44.8 yards per punt average after hitting 61 kicks for 2,733 yards. He hit 17 punts for more than 50 yards and placed 17 inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Kozlowski was named a third-team All-American by Phil Steele.
Other award winners for the Mountaineers were: IRA ERRETT RODGERS AWARD: Reed Williams; JOHN RUSSELL AWARD: Chris Neild; GRIDIRON GLADIATOR: Don Barclay, Selvish Capers, Brandon Hogan, Josh Jenkins, Eric Jobe, Joe Madsen, Julian Miller, J.T. Thomas and Robert Sands.
IDEAL MOUNTAINEER MAN: Jarrett Brown, WHITEY GWYNNE AWARD:Alric Arnett, Tyler Urban; DANNY VAN ETTEN AWARD: Ryan Clarke.
SCOUT TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR (offense): Payton Brooks; SCOUT TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR (defense) Tyler Anderson.
CAPTAINS AWARD: Jarrett Brown and Reed Williams
West Virginia finished with a 9-3 record and tied for second place in the BIG EAST Conference with a 5-2 mark. The Mountaineers will play Florida State in the Konica Minota Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, 2010 in Jacksonville, Fla.
