Penn State TE Pat Freiermuth snubbed on first-team All-Big Ten; 3 Nittany Lions named All-B1G
Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth was snubbed again Wednesday night.
The true sophomore missed out on first-team All-Big Ten honors, finishing behind Purdue tight end Brycen Hopkins, who was named the Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year. Hopkins was also a semifinalist for the national John Mackey Award, earning a spot over Freiermuth two weeks ago.
Freiermuth was a consensus second-team selection Wednesday, but he wasn’t the only Nittany Lion to earn a spot on the all-conference offense. Among the teammates to join him were wideout KJ Hamler (second team, coaches/media) and offensive guard Steven Gonzalez (second team, coaches/media). The honorable mentions included QB Sean Clifford (coaches/media), OL Michal Menet (coaches/media), OL Will Fries (coaches/media) and RB Journey Brown (media).
But Freiermuth, who announced Saturday he was returning to Happy Valley for at least one more season, was the Nittany Lion on Wednesday who had the best shot at an award. And, in the end, his production just couldn’t stand up to Hopkins’.
Freiermuth finished the regular season with an impressive 41 catches for 468 yards and seven touchdowns. Hopkins? He is currently tied for first nationally among tight ends in receptions (61), second nationally in receiving yards (830) and tied for fourth nationally in touchdowns (7). In the end, Freiermuth’s versatile play and top-end ability couldn’t compete with that.
But the Massachusetts native will get his chance in 2020. Hopkins is a fifth-year senior, so it’s difficult to label anyone but Freiermuth the Big Ten front-runner next season. In fact, it’d be a surprise if he didn’t make the eight-player semifinalist list for the national Mackey Award.
Some of his teammates were even surprised two weeks ago when he missed the semifinalist cut.
“I do really question what they were looking at there,” quarterback Sean Clifford said. “Obviously, I’m not the expert but, from my perspective and seeing what my teammate brings to the table, I see Pat being one of the best — if not the best — tight ends in the country.”
Added head coach James Franklin: “I can’t imagine there’s eight tight ends in the country that people would choose ahead of Pat Freiermuth. Could there be a couple? OK, I can live with that. But eight? No, no.”
Overall, nine Nittany Lions were selected to one of the three All-Big Ten teams. In addition to Wednesday’s three offensive players, six defensive players earned the honor Tuesday: LB Micah Parsons (first team, coaches/media), DE Yetur Gross-Matos (first team, coaches/media), DE Shaka Toney (second team, coaches), DT Robert Windsor (third team, coaches), LB Cam Brown (third team, coaches) and CB Tariq Castro-Fields (third team, media).
Parsons was also named the conference’s top linebacker.
Wednesday’s All-Big Ten offenses are listed below:
All-Big Ten Offense (COACHES)
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
| QB Justin Fields (Ohio State) | QB Tanner Morgan (Minnesota) | QB Shea Patterson (Michigan) |
RB JK Dobbins (Ohio State) | RB Stevie Scott III (Indiana) | RB Reggie Corbin (Illinois) |
| RB Jonathan Taylor (Wisconsin) | RB Rodney Smith (Minnesota) | RB Master Teague (Ohio State) |
| WR Rashod Bateman (Minnesota) | WR Whop Philyor (Indiana) | WR Chris Olave (Ohio State) |
| WR Tyler Johnson (Minnesota) | WR KJ Hamler (Penn State) | WR David Bell (Purdue) |
| OL Tyler Biadasz (Wisconsin) | OL Cesar Ruiz (Michigan) | OL Josh Myers (Ohio State) |
| OL Ben Bredeson (Michigan) | OL Wyatt Davis (Ohio State) | OL Michael Onwenu (Michigan) |
| OL Jonah Jackson (Michigan) | OL Steven Gonzalez (Penn State) | OL Blaise Andries (Minnesota) |
| OL Tristan Wirfs (Iowa) | OL Branden Bowen (Ohio State) | OL Alex Palczewski (Illinois) |
| OL Jon Runyan (Michigan) | OL Thayer Munford (Ohio State) | OL Alaric Jackson (Iowa) |
| TE Brycen Hopkins (Purdue) | TE Pat Freiermuth (Penn State) | TE Luke Farrell (Ohio State) |
All-Big Ten Offense (MEDIA)
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
QB Justin Fields (Ohio State) | QB Tanner Morgan (Minnesota) | QB Shea Patterson (Michigan) |
| RB JK Dobbins (Ohio State) | RB Stevie Scott III (Indiana) | RB Reggie Corbin (Illinois) |
RB Jonathan Taylor (Wisconsin) | RB Rodney Smith (Minnesota) | RB Zach Charbonnet (Michigan) |
| WR Rashod Bateman (Minnesota) | WR KJ Hamler (Penn State) | RB Elijah Collins (Michigan State) AND Master Teague (Ohio State) |
| WR Tyler Johnson (Minnesota) | WR David Bell (Purdue) | WR Whop Philyor (Indiana) |
| OL Tyler Biadasz (Wisconsin) | OL Josh Myers (Ohio State) | WR Chris Olave (Ohio State) |
| OL Ben Bredeson (Michigan) | OL Jonah Jackson (Ohio State) | OL Cesar Ruiz (Michigan) |
| OL Wyatt Davis (Ohio State) | OL Steven Gonzalez (Penn State) | OL Simon Stepniak (Indiana) |
| OL Tristan Wirfs (Iowa) | OL Thayer Munford (Ohio State) | OL BLaise Andries (Minnesota) |
| OL Jon Runyan (Michigan) | OL Cole Van Lanen (Wisconsin) | OL Alaric Jackson (Iowa) AND Brandon Bowen (Ohio State) |
| TE Brycen Hopkins (Purdue) | TE Pat Freiermuth (Penn State) | TE Peyton Hendershot (Indiana) |
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 6:23 PM.
