Tailback Adell Givens was named Tuesday as Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, the fourth Ball State player to win the award.
The award was voted on by members of the MAC News Media Association. Other specialty awards named Tuesday were Offensive Player of the Year (Bowling Green quarterback Omar Jacobs), Defensive Player of the Year (Marshall end Jonathan Goddard), Special Teams Player of the Year (Miami receiver/return man Ryne Robinson) and Coach of the Year (Akron's J.D. Brookhart).
Givens follows tailbacks Bernie Parmalee (1987), Michael Blair (1993) and quarterback Talmadge Hill (2000) as freshmen of the year from BSU. In 10 games, the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder from Hamilton, Ohio, rushed for 963 yards (4.8 per carry) and six touchdowns.
Monday he became the first freshman in three years to be named First-Team All-MAC, as his 96.3 yards per game ranked third in the league.
Givens started the season as Ball State's No. 2 tailback, but was elevated to No. 1 when Larry Bostic suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second game. He rushed for at least 100 yards in his last six games, although he was suspended for the 10th game, a 21-17 win over Central Florida, for academic reasons. The suspension possibly cost him a chance to break BSU's freshman rushing record of 1,004 yards, set by Parmalee.
Each MAC school also nominated a player for the Vern Smith Leadership Award, which went to Akron senior quarterback Charlie Frye. Ball State's nomination was senior safety Justin Beriault.
Frye finished his career second in the MAC in career offensive yards (11,478) and third in passing yards (11,049). His coach, Brookhart guided the Zips to a 6-2 MAC record (6-5 overall) in his first year at the helm.
Jacobs, a sophomore and first-year starter, threw for 3,637 yards and 36 touchdowns with just three interceptions. Goddard leads the nation in sacks (16) and tackles for loss (28). Robinson, also a sophomore, averaged 13.6 yards per punt return and had two touchdowns. He is already the MAC's career leader in punt return yards and touchdowns.
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