On Monday evening, the Big Ten announced its regular season award winners and all league teams, and as many would expect No. 7 MSU had its share of winners and representatives.
Nine Spartans were recognized with All-Big Ten first or second team honors, a large and deserving number of players for one of the best teams in the conference. However, there was one Spartan who was left off that was maybe most deserving of them all — senior running back Jeremy Langford.
Langford wrapped up the season on Saturday with another 100-yard game — 118 yards and two touchdowns to be exact . Langford’s impressive day came against the nation’s No. 1 rush defense and extended his two historic streaks — nine straight games with at least 100 yards and 16 straight games against Big Ten foes with at least 100 yards.
After compiling consistent performances week after week, Langford finished with 1,360 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground. That puts him tied for No. 17 in the country in rushing yards and No. 6 in rushing touchdowns.
However, in the eyes of the media and coaches, that wasn’t enough to crack the all conference list.
Langford was beaten out for a spot on either the media or coaches first and second teams by Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon , Indiana’s Tevin Coleman , Minnesota’s David Cobb and Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah . Gordon and Coleman made the first team, and Cobb and Abdullah were selected to the second team.
All four finished with more rushing yards than Langford, but the numbers can be deceiving. Out of the four running backs who made the All-Big Ten list, all but Abdullah had more carries than Langford. And by quite a large margin.
Gordon had 34, Coleman had 21 and Cobb had a whomping 45 more carries than Langford . It should also be noted that Langford was the only back out of the group who had a reliable quarterback, playing a role on the number of carries he was given. If you don’t have someone who can consistently complete passes, you have to run the ball. It’s plain and simple.
I guess Langford should be punished for having a competent quarterback under center.
I know some will think this comes off as whining for the Spartans and what not, but that’s not the case. I’m by no means saying Langford is the best running back in the league. Gordon has surely proven he is not only the best back in the Big Ten but in the entire country. So give props when it’s needed. But outside of Gordon, none of the running backs in the Big Ten have been more consistent than Langford.
Coleman rushed for more than 2,000 yards this season, but was held to only 71 against Penn State . Langford ripped off 118 yards against the Nittany Lions .
Abdullah struggled on the big stage, failing to reach more than 100 yards in all three of Nebraska’s losses this season. That includes only 45 yards on 22 carries against MSU .
And Cobb benefited from big performances against bad teams such as Middle Tennessee, San Jose State and Purdue, who all ranked no better than 81st in the country for rushing defense .
No running back in the Big Ten has been more consistent than Langford over the past two seasons, and it’s safe to say this was the definition of a Big Ten snub yet again for Mr. Langford.
