Iowa awards rewind

I've been busy/exhausted/you don't want to hear my problems, so, yes, I've been behind on some of the stuff that simply needs to be posted.

Good stuff. The rewards for a 12-0 season and spot in the Big Ten title game. Oh, and the Rose Bowl.

So, sorry about that.

Here we go.

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UI head coach recognized by Touchdown Club of Columbus

Ferentz Named Woody Hayes Coach of the Year

(From UI sports info)

IOWA CITY - University of Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz has been named the 2015 Woody Hayes Coach of the Year. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.

The Woody Hayes Award, named for former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, has recognized the nation's top coach each year since 1977. The award is voted on by the Touchdown Club's committees consisting of coaches, sportswriters, and former players. This is the first time Ferentz has won the award.

The award will be presented at the 61st Touchdown Club of Columbus Awards on Feb. 6, 2016 in Columbus, Ohio.

Ferentz was recognized as the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 3 Coach of the Year on Monday, and named Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career on Dec. 1. He has also been named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award (Football Writers Association of America) and the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award (Maxwell Football Club).

Ferentz is in his 17th season as Iowa's head coach. He guided the Hawkeyes to a perfect 12-0 regular season mark, the most wins ever for a Hawkeye football team. Iowa, ranked fifth in the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings, has earned a spot in the 2016 Rose Bowl against Stanford. The Hawkeyes lost to Michigan State in the Big Ten championship game, 16-13.

The Hawkeyes began the season unranked before moving into the top 25 following a 10-6 win at Wisconsin. Iowa steadily climbed in the rankings and was ranked as high as fourth in the CFP rankings.

Ferentz ranks seventh in the Big Ten Conference in conference wins (76) and eighth in total wins (127). He has led Iowa to 13 bowl games in the last 15 seasons, including eight January bowl events.

For more information of the Woody Hayes Award and the Touchdown Club of Columbus, visit www.tdccolumbus.com

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Blythe Named Rimington Trophy Finalist

UI senior 1 of 3 finalists for the 2015 Rimington Trophy

(From UI sports info)

IOWA CITY - University of Iowa senior center Austin Blythe is one of three finalists for the 2015 Rimington Trophy. The announcement was made Monday by the Rimington Trophy Committee. The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA Division I college football.

The winner of the Rimington Trophy will be presented live during the ESPNU Red Carpet Show on Thursday, Dec. 10, immediately preceeding the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show from Atlanta. The Rimington Trophy presentation is held Jan. 16, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Blythe (6-foot-3, 290-pounds) has started all 13 games in 2015. He has started 44 straight games over the past three years and has 48 career starts. He earned second team All-Big Ten honors this season and has been a game captain for all 13 games. Bruce Nelson is Iowa's most recent Rimington Award finalist (2002).

Blythe has played a key role for the Hawkeye offense in 2015. Iowa won a school-record 12 games with an undefeated regular season (12-0), before dropping a 16-13 contest to Michigan State in the Big Ten championship game. The Hawkeyes have been invited to meet Stanford in the 2016 Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 4:10 p.m. CT, ESPN).

The Hawkeye offense is averaging 32.1 points per game, 192 rushing yards and 201.8 passing yards per game. Iowa scored over 30 points in five straight Big Ten games for the first time ever and the Hawkeyes rank among the national leaders in time of possession.

Blythe was also named second team All-Big Ten by league coaches in 2014, and earned honorable mention recognition in 2013. He started nine games at right guard as a redshirt freshman in 2012. Blythe earned first team Freshman All-America honors from Scout.com in 2012 after starting nine games at right guard. He started all 13 games at center in 2013.

Blythe is a native of Williamsburg, Iowa. He has been named to Iowa's Leadership Group for four straight years. The additional finalists for the award are Jack Allen of Michigan State and Ryan Kelly of Alabama.

The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA Division I-A College Football. Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised over $2.6 million for the cystic fibrosis community. The 14-year-old award is overseen by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and has raised over $115 million for CF Research.

Dave Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982. The Rimington Trophy winner will be announced Jan. 16 in Lincoln, Nebraska. For more on the Rimington Trophy and a list of past recipients, visit rimingtontrophy.com.

Here's how the winner is selected:

The winner of the Rimington Trophy is selected by determining the consensus All-American center pick from three existing All-America teams. While more than a dozen All-America teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy committee used these three prestigious teams to determine a winner:

- Walter Camp Foundation (WCF)

- Sporting News (SN)

- Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)

Because the selectors of these three All-America teams can place centers in a 'mix” of offensive linemen that includes guards and tackles, their 11- man first teams can often have two centers. The Rimington Trophy committee's policy is to count all players that play primarily the center position for their respective teams as centers, even though they may be listed as guards or tackles on the four All- America teams.

The center with the most first team votes will be determined the winner. If there is a tie with first team votes, then the center with the most second team votes will win. If there is still a tie, the winner will be determined by a majority vote from the Rimington Trophy committee.

(I think Kelly wins this, from what I've seen from all-American voting.)

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EIGHT COACHES SELECTED AS FINALISTS FOR EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD

Winner to be announced on Dec. 16

(From Football Writers Association of America)

DALLAS (FWAA) - The Football Writers Association of America, in conjunction with the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has announced eight finalists for the 2015 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, whose winner will be revealed on Wed., Dec. 16.

In alphabetical order, the finalists are: Michigan State's Mark Dantonio, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, Houston's Tom Herman, Notre Dame's Brian Kelly, Temple's Matt Ruhle, Stanford's David Shaw, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Clemson's Dabo Swinney.

The finalists were placed on a ballot sent out to the entire FWAA membership today. Ballots will be accepted from the membership through 5 p.m. CT on Friday. FWAA members were asked to vote for their top choices in the order they believe the coaches are deserving of the award.

The official presentation reception will be Jan. 9, 2016, in Scottsdale, Ariz., where the winning coach will be handed the FWAA/Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year bust during a reception at the media hotel in conjunction with the College Football Playoff National Championship.

The FWAA has presented a coaching award since the 1957 season when Ohio State's Woody Hayes was named the first recipient. In 1997, the FWAA's national coach of the year award was named in honor of the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 seasons. His 408 career Division I victories are second-most in the history of college football.

Robinson, who passed away in 2007, won 70.7 percent of his games during his illustrious career. Robinson's teams won or tied for 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championships after joining the league in 1959. His Tigers claimed nine black college football championships during his career, all spent at the same school.

The 2015 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year finalists:

Mark Dantonio, Michigan State

: The Spartans edged previously-unbeaten Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game to finish the regular season at 12-1, losing only a controversial one-point decision at Nebraska. The Big Ten title earned the Spartans a berth in the College Football Playoff, where they will face Alabama in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. The victory over Iowa in Indianapolis followed conference wins at both Michigan and Ohio State this season. Dantonio has won at least 11 games five times in the last six years in East Lansing. He has been an Eddie Robinson Award finalist twice before (2010 and 2013). Duffy Daugherty, in 1965, is Michigan State's lone winner of the award.

Kirk Ferentz, Iowa

: He has led the Hawkeyes to the first 12-victory season in school history and collected the Big Ten West Division title before losing a heartbreaker to Michigan State in the Big Ten title game. Ferentz has weaved this team, unheralded in the preseason, into one of his best clubs. The dean of the Big Ten coaches, in his 17th year at the school, has his Hawkeyes Rose Bowl bound for the first time in 25 years, where they will face Pac-12 champion Stanford. This is the third time Ferentz has been a finalist for the award (2002 and 2004).

Tom Herman, Houston

: A first-year head coach who is headed to a New Year's Six bowl, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, where they will take on Florida State. The Cougars, playing in a New Year's Day bowl for the first time in 30 years, are 12-1 and champions of the American Athletic Conference. They defeated Temple in the inaugural AAC title game and have dropped only a 20-17 decision at UConn in which they played without starting quarterback Greg Ward Jr. Explosive offensively, the Cougars also have shown a stern defensive side despite Herman's reputation as an offensive whiz. Herman is just the second Eddie Robinson Award finalist from Houston, following Art Briles in 2006.

Brian Kelly, Notre Dame

: The Fighting Irish, headed to the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl, are 10-2 during a season in which Kelly has had to deal with a wave of injuries. Also, consider the team's two losses – at top-ranked Clemson and at eventual Pac-12 champion Stanford, both by two points. Kelly is a previous FWAA/Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year winner, claiming the award in 2012. Kelly was a also finalist for the award in 2009, while the head coach at Cincinnati.

Matt Rhule, Temple

: He has done wonders with a Temple program that is a Top 25 team in 2015. The Owls have been nationally ranked for the first time since 1980. The former Penn State linebacker is in his third season on North Broad Street and could register the first 11-victory season in school history with a victory over Toledo in the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl. The Owls took Notre Dame down to the wire before losing and won the American Athletic Conference's East Division before falling at Houston in the conference title game. He is the first finalist from Temple.

David Shaw, Stanford

: The Cardinal have lost only two games this season, the season-opener at Northwestern and a 38-36 decision to Oregon. After blasting USC in the Pac-12 title game, Shaw's Stanford team is headed to its third Rose Bowl in four seasons, led by Heisman Trophy candidate running back Christian McCaffrey. Shaw has won the Pac-12 championship three times in the last four seasons and is also a finalist for the award for the third time in that span.

Bob Stoops, Oklahoma

: It was a great bounceback season for the Sooners after disastrous finish to 2014. They finished the 2015 season with conference victories over ranked teams Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State to win the outright Big 12 Conference title. The Sooners carry an 11-1 record and a seven-game winning streak into the College Football Playoff at the Capital One Orange Bowl against top-seeded Clemson. Stoops is a previous Eddie Robinson Award winner in 2000, when the Sooners won the national title. He has been a finalist for the award three other times (2005, 2007 and 2008) and is the only Oklahoma coach to have won the award.

Dabo Swinney, Clemson:

The unbeaten Tigers wrapped up a perfect regular season and have successfully lived with the burden of being ranked No. 1 much of the last half of the season. The Tigers defeated North Carolina to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title and set a school record with 13 victories. They boast a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback capable of taking them to the national title in Deshaun Watson, the ACC title game MVP. Clemson has won a nation-leading 16 straight games heading into the College Football Playoff. Swinney was an Eddie Robinson Award finalist in 2011 and Danny Ford won the award in 1981, Clemson's national championship season.

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Ferentz a Munger Award finalist

The Maxwell Football Club (MFC) announced today three finalists for the 2015 George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award. Named as finalists are Mark Dantonio (Michigan State), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), and Dabo Swinney (Clemson).

Dantonio has led No. 3-ranked Spartans to a 12-1 record and a Big Ten championship.

Seven of Michigan State's games came down to the final possession including Saturday night's 16-13 win over No. 5-ranked and Rose Bowl bound Iowa (12-1) in the Big Ten title game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Michigan State will open the College Football Playoff in the Dec. 31 Cotton Bowl against No. 2 Alabama (12-1), a winner over Florida in the SEC championship game Saturday.

Ferentz guided the Hawkeyes to a 12-1 record overall and 8-0 mark in conference play, setting a program record for wins. Iowa won the Big Ten West Division to earn a Big Ten Championship Game berth. The Hawkeyes fell to Michigan State 16-13 in that game which was played on Saturday night. In his 17th season at Iowa, Ferentz is tied for seventh in Big Ten victories (76) and ranks eighth in total wins (127). Ferentz has led Iowa to a school-record 12 victories this season, the fifth time the Hawkeyes have recorded 10 or more wins under his leadership. He was named as the Big Ten Coach of the Year last week.

Swinney, whose Atlantic Division winners defeated Coastal Division champion North Carolina in Saturday night's Dr. Pepper ACC Football Championship Game, has led the Tigers to a 13-0 record that is a school record for wins in a single season. Clemson owns the nation's longest active winning streak at 16 games, dating back to the final three games of 2014. The 16 consecutive wins also breaks a school record, first set by the Tiger teams of 1947-49. Clemson's memorable 2015 season has included wins over No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 16 Florida State. The Tigers rank first in the ACC in total offense (502.5 yards per game) and second in total defense (288.5 yards per game allowed). Swinney was selected as the ACC Coach of the Year this season.

Voting opens Wednesday for the finalist selection for the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year. Eligible voters include, NCAA Bowl Subdivision Head Coaches and Football Sports Information Directors, Maxwell Football Club members and selected national media. The winner announcement will be made on December 21, 2015 and the award will be formally presented at the 79th Maxwell Awards Gala, which will be held on March 11, 2016 at the Tropicana Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

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That should catch us up.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com