Nassib selected as Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year

Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib was named the Big Ten’s Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year, the conference announced Monday night.

Nassib, who also earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and media, led the country with 15 1/2 sacks and six forced fumbles. He tied for second in the nation with 19 1/2 tackles for loss.

“It just took a lot of hard work over a long period of time,” Nassib said in an interview on the Big Ten Network on Monday night. “When my opportunity came knocking, I was ready for it, so I had a lot of help on the way from my coaches, my teammates, my family.”

The senior, a former walk-on, set the program’s record for sacks in a season and finished seventh on the team with 47 tackles despite playing just six snaps in the final two games of the regular season due to a hamstring injury.

“These last two weeks were probably the most frustrating two weeks in a long time,” Nassib said. “All I wanted to do was get out and help my team win and I was limited and couldn’t do that. It was really rough.”

Penn State defensive tackle Austin Johnson was named second-team All-Big Ten by the media and third team by the coaches. Nittany Lions defensive tackle Anthony Zettel was a third-team selection by the coaches and media.

Safety Marcus Allen and linebacker Jason Cabinda were honorable mention selections by the coaches and media. Cornerback Trevor Williams earned honorable mention honors from the coaches, and cornerback Grant Haley was an honorable mention pick by the media.

Ohio State’s Joey Bosa won the Big Ten’s Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year award for the second straight season. Bosa finished with 47 tackles, five sacks and 16 tackles for loss.

Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers (Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year), Wisconsin’s Joe Schobert (Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year), Iowa’s Desmond King (Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year), Indiana’s Griffin Oakes (Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year), Nebraska’s Sam Foltz (Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year) and Maryland’s William Likely (Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year) rounded out the individual player award winners.

The conference’s offensive awards will be announced at 6 p.m. Tuesday on BTN.

This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Nassib selected as Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year."