With the conclusion of the regular season on Saturday, the Gophers announced their player awards at the annual team banquet today. Here is your complete list of winners:
Most Valuable Player (Bronko Nagurski Award) - Mitch Leidner
Outstanding Offensive Player (Bruce Smith Award) - Mitch Leidner
Outstanding Defensive Player (Carl Eller Award) - Eric Murray
Defensive Lineman of the Year - Theiren Cockran
Linebacker of the Year - Cody Poock
Defensive Back of the Year - Eric Murray
Offensive Lineman of the Year - Jonah Pirsig
Tight End of the Year - Brandon Lingen
Wide Receiver of the Year - KJ Maye
Offensive Back of the Year (Bob McNamara Award) - Shannon Brooks
Outstanding Special Teams Player - Peter Mortell
Outstanding Defensive Freshman of the Year Award - KiAnte Hardin
Outstanding Offensive Freshman of the Year Award - Shannon Brooks
Offensive Work Team Player of the Year - Conor Rhoda
Defensive Work Team Player of the Year - Winston DeLattiboudere and Gary Moore
For Love of the Game (Neil Fredenburg Award) - Mitch Leidner
Unselfishness & Most Concern for the U of M (Paul Giel Award) - Jon Christenson
Underdog (Gary Tinsley Award) - Adekunle Ayinde
Competitive on the Field and in the Classroom (Butch Nash Award) - Jon Christenson
Character & Community Service (Tony Dungy Award) - Jon Christenson
#LeidnerTwitter is back with a vengeance and feasting upon the news that Mitch was named Most Valuable Player. Leidner had an up-and-down season, but I challenge you to find a player on the roster who didn't. He started the season slow and had a rough finish, but his midseason performance during that stretch of games from Nebraska through Iowa was the kind of quarterback play Gopher fans have been begging for. Overall, his completion percentage improved from 51.5% to 57.8%, he almost doubled his number of completions, and his passing yards improved from 1,798 to 2,478. The Gophers had bigger problems than Mitch Leidner this season.
UPDATE: And right on cue...
@TheDailyGopher Leidner MVP is a joke
— Terry Nelson (@Sodjacket) November 29, 2015
Sad to see Briean Boddy-Calhoun didn't take home any of the hardware, but when Eric Murray is on the side of the field, there isn't much of an argument there.