Forcier, Kovacs, Roh and Roundtree Named to Freshmen All-Big Ten Team by Sporting News

Submitted by Tim on

Press release.

Football Foursome Named to Sporting News Freshman All-Big Ten

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – University of Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch HS), wide receiver Roy Roundtree (Trotwood, Ohio/Trotwood-Madison HS), outside linebacker Craig Roh (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral HS) and safety Jordan Kovacs (Curtice, Ohio/Clay HS) were selected to the Freshmen All-Big Ten Team announced today (Dec. 16) by Sporting News. The Wolverines’ four honorees were more than any other Big Ten Conference school.

 

Roundtree was the team’s top offensive performer at the end of the season, catching 30 passes for 390 yards and two touchdowns in the final four contests. He finished the year as the Wolverines’ top receiver with 32 receptions for 434 yards (13.6 avg.) and three touchdowns. Roundtree played in 11 games at slot receiver and started the final four contests as a redshirt freshman.

 

Forcier started at quarterback from wire-to-wire for the Wolverines, completing 165-of-281 passes (58.7 pct.) for 2,050 yards and 13 touchdowns. He carried the ball a team-high 118 times for 240 yards and scored three touchdowns. Forcier directed a pair of fourth quarter comebacks (Notre Dame and Indiana) during his initial campaign and had five games with 200 or more passing yards. He joined Chad Henne as the only true freshmen quarterbacks in school history to start every game during the season.

 

Roh is the first true freshman defensive player to start every game during the regular season. He posted 37 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception and three pass breakups during his rookie season. Roh registered a career high seven stops against Eastern Michigan (Sept. 19), including his first career interception and an assisted sack. He added five-tackle efforts against Purdue (Nov. 7) and Ohio State (Nov. 21).

 

A walk-on who kept making plays each and every week, Kovacs earned eight starts at safety and played in all 12 games on special teams. He finished the year second on the team with 75 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, one interception and forced two fumbles. He had three double-digit tackle efforts, including a league season-best 17 tackles and 2.5 TFLs at Michigan State (Oct. 3). Kovacs was named to the CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America second team squad.

 

Graham and Mesko Add to All-America Accolades: Senior defensive end Brandon Graham (Detroit, Mich./Crockett Technical HS) was named to SI.com’s All-America second team and fifth-year senior punter Zoltan Mesko (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg HS) collected second-team accolades from Phil Steele. Graham earned a fourth-team nod from Phil Steele while Mesko received honorable mention status from SI.com.

/Press release.

Congrats to those guys. For anyone questioning whether or not Michigan was a very young team this year, that's the most All-conference selections of any B10 squad. A couple others had 3 selections.

Comments

Captain

December 16th, 2009 at 5:35 PM ^

Roh is the first true freshman defensive player to start every game during the regular season.

The scope of this statement is somewhat unclear (I presume it's it's limited to the University of Michigan), but pretty amazing nonetheless. You shouldered a heavy burden this year Roh, and did it magnificently.

mjkaiser09

December 16th, 2009 at 5:42 PM ^

I'll take any positives I can get at this point. And four Freshman on the Freshman All-Big Ten team is one. Well done fellows. I think this can also testify how our youth and inexperience was really one of our biggest problems this year. They just need to build on this season and we'll be alright.

Blue_Bull_Run

December 16th, 2009 at 5:54 PM ^

That's a pretty awesome final four games! In four games, he raked up ...

1) More receptions and yards than Mathews had the entire year

2) More receptions than Hemmingway and Stonum combined, for the whole season

3) More receptions and yards than Stonum has over his career

4) 18% of Forcier's total completions, and 19% of Forcier's total yardage.

EDIT: Projected over a full season (just for fun), Roundtree would have been 11th in the nation for receptions, and 9th in yards.

Clarence Beeks

December 16th, 2009 at 7:20 PM ^

"Kovacs was named to the CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America second team squad."

Phenomenal accolade for a WALK ON. I just wanted to specifically highlight the accolades for Kovacs because of all of the flack he took around these parts (and other parts on the interwebs) for being a "lowly walk-on". What a great recognition for a great season!

NOLA Blue

December 17th, 2009 at 3:46 AM ^

These guys are key to the transition U of M is making. Their team-first attitudes are admirable. And, of course, a special congratulations should be given to Kovacs; his achievements as a walk-on will never be overlooked in the lore of Michigan football.

michiganfanforlife

December 17th, 2009 at 9:57 AM ^

will be a lasting connection that will just improve over the next three years. Those two will break records by their senior years, and I can't wait to watch it happen. We just need to get the defense back to par, and this team will start to do some things... Go Blue!!

thekiddet3

December 17th, 2009 at 2:55 PM ^

This seems to be a pretty good indication that RR knows talent and how to go after it on the recruiting trail. I see good things happening in the next couple of years in regards to + Michigan football.

Congrats, Tate, Craig, Roy and Jordan.

Go Blue!