Honors continue to roll in for Badgers
December 17, 2009 | Football
Dec. 17, 2009
MADISON, Wis. -- Coming on the heels of yesterday’s announcement of the Sporting News’ All-Freshman teams, in which linebacker Chris Borland and offensive lineman Peter Konz were recognized, more accolades have been announced for UW football players.
The Sporting News released its All-Big Ten team on Thursday and named sophomore running back John Clay as its Big Ten Offensive MVP. Senior tight end Garrett Graham was also named to the All-Big Ten team.
Clay, who was already named the consensus Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, leads the Big Ten with 116.3 rushing yards per game. His 16 rushing touchdowns and 1,396 rushing yards in 2009 rank fifth and 12th-best for a single-season in UW history, respectively. Clay went over 100 yards rushing in eight different games this year, the sixth-best mark for a season at Wisconsin. The Racine, Wis., native has cracked UW’s top-10 rushing list, placing 10th with 2,280 rushing yards in his career.
Graham, who was named first-team All-Big Ten by the media and second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches this season, leads Wisconsin with seven receiving touchdowns and is second in receptions with 45 and receiving yards with 547. Among tight ends, Graham was tied for fifth nationally, first in the Big Ten, in receptions. Graham’s senior season has catapulted him up the UW record books. He is tied for fifth in school history with 16 career receiving touchdowns, ranks eighth with seven touchdown catches in a season, eighth with 111 career receptions and 13th in school history with 1,415 career receiving yards.
College football expert Phil Steele has also released his All-American teams. Junior offensive tackle Gabe Carimi was named fourth-team All-American, while Borland was named first-team All-Freshman and Konz was named third-team All-Freshman.
Carimi has started all 12 games this season at left tackle. He has helped provide blindside protection for junior quarterback Scott Tolzien and a Wisconsin team that leads the Big Ten in scoring offense (32.8 points per game), rushing offense (206.7 yards per game) and total offense (415.8 yards per game).
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Karl Anderson
UW Athletic Communications
