Ball State University Athletics
Football Team Announces Awards at Honors Banquet
December 14, 2008 | Football
Nate Davis (Bellaire, Ohio/Bellaire H.S.) and Dante Love (Cincinnati, Ohio/Withrow H.S.) were named co-recipients of Ball State University's John Magnabosco Award as the team's Most Valuable Players.
The Magnabosco Award is named in honor of Ball State's head football coach from 1935-52. Magnabosco is the winningest football coach in Ball State history with 68 victories.
Davis, a junior quarterback for the Cardinals, has passed for 3,446 yards this season to become the first Ball State quarterback in school history to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season twice in a career. He threw for a school record 3,667 yards in 2007. A 2008 All-MAC First-Team selection, Davis has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 29 of the last 30 games and ranks eighth in the nation in passing efficiency (164.05) and 16th in the country in total offense (286.38). Davis, who won the Magnabosco Award last season, has thrown for at least 250 yards in a game eight times in 2008 and has completed 67 percent of his passes this season.
Love, a senior wide receiver, suffered a season-ending injury in Ball State's 42-20 win at Indiana Sept. 20. At the time of the injury, Love ranked second in the country with 115.0 receiving yards per game. He caught at least one pass in 37 straight games and in 39-of-40 outings in his career. Love had 1,398 receiving yards in 2007 and is only the fifth player in Ball State history to reach the 1,000 receiving yards plateau. He ranks second in Ball State annals with 2,778 career receiving yards, second with 199 career receptions and fourth with 20 career touchdown receptions. Love is only the fourth player in Ball State history to register over 2,000 receiving yards in a career.
Love also received the Mark Hays Inspiration Award, which is given to the person who demonstrates the greatest ability to motivate and inspire his teammates. The award is given in the memory of the late son of Kermit and Mary Ellen Hays, who are longtime fans and supporters of the Ball State athletics program.
Sean Baker (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield H.S.) and Briggs Orsbon (Convoy, Ohio/Crestview H.S.) were named co-recipients of the John Hodge Award as Ball State's Most Valuable Freshmen. The Hodge Award is given in memory of the 1974 Cardinal Varsity Club Chairman who died in 1977. The CVC is an organization of benefactors to Ball State's intercollegiate athletics program.
Baker, who was named the MAC Freshman of the Year, leads the Cardinals in tackles with 91 and is tied for 14th in the nation with 0.46 interceptions per game. The redshirt freshman has registered six interceptions this year and has scored two defensive touchdowns -- a 40-yard interception return at Indiana and a 33-yard fumble return at Akron. Baker tied a Ball State record with three interceptions at Akron, and was named the Walter Camp Foundation National Defensive Player of the Week and the MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week for his performance.
Orsbon, a true freshman wide receiver, leads the Cardinals with 65 catches and a 59.0 receiving-yards-per-game average. He caught a career long 36-yard pass at Miami University, and tallied his fifth touchdown reception of the season at Central Michigan. Orsbon managed a career high 13 receptions for a career best 141 yards vs. Buffalo -- both of which were MAC Championship Game records.
Chris Miller (Libertyville, Ill./Carmel H.S.), a senior punter, was named the Bill Reynolds Special Teams Award for a second straight season. Miller, a 2008 All-MAC Second-Team selection, punted 37 times and forced opponents to start within their own 20-yard line 16 times. He averaged 42.5 yards per punt and had nine punts of 50 yards or more.
The Bill Reynolds Special Teams Award is named in memory of Reynolds, who spent 31 years as a volunteer in the Ball State athletics department with an emphasis on the football program prior to his death in the summer of 2000.
Brent Bostic (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) was named the Bill Meitzler Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year, while John Buckingham (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove H.S.) and Zac Jordan (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder H.S.) were named co-recipients of the Meitzler Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year award. Jordan also received the Meitzler Special Teams Scout Team Player of the Year.
Gonzalo Barinaga (Milwaukee, Wis./Marquette H.S.), a senior linebacker, received the Ball State Football Academic Award. Barinaga played in 12 games and started three contests for the Cardinals. The pre-med major owns a 3.68 grade-point average on Ball State's 4.0 scale and managed a 3.92 GPA last spring.
Derrick Henry (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne H.S.) and B.J. Hill (Lanham, Md./Riverdale Baptist H.S.) received the Elite 11 Champion Award, which is based on a point system for outstanding special teams play throughout the season. Henry is a sophomore free safety, while Hill is a senior cornerback.
Fourteen seniors -- Antonio Beasley (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop H.S.), Robert Brewster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wyoming H.S.), Wendell Brown (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King H.S.), Trey Buice (Stone Mountain, Ga./Tucker H.S.), Chris Clancy (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic H.S.), Adam Cole (Eden Prairie, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels H.S.), Kyle Cornwell (New Lenox, Ill./Providence Catholic H.S.), Bryant Haines (Piqua, Ohio/Piqua H.S.), Darius Hill (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs H.S.), Louis Johnson (Muncie, Ind./Central H.S.), Trey Lewis (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft H.S.), Kenny Meeks (Muncie, Ind./Central H.S.), Wade Overton (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North H.S.) and Andre Ramsey (Cordele, Ga./Crisp County H.S.) -- were each recipients of the Ray Louthen Senior Contribution Award. This award is given in honor of Ball State's former football coach and athletics director for outstanding contributions to the team on and off the field.
Also honored at the Honors Banquet were Ball State's team captains -- Brandon Crawford (Fort Wayne, Ind./South H.S.), Dan Gerberry (Austintown, Ohio/Austintown Fitch H.S.) and Love.
Ball State completed a perfect 12-0 regular season, tallied an 8-0 Mid-American Conference mark, won the MAC West Division Championship and earned the school's first ever berth in the MAC Championship Game this season. Ball State is 12-1 overall and will face Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl Jan. 6, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala.
