Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel is The Associated Press Big Ten offensive player of the year, Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter is defensive player of the year and Indiana’s Curt Cignetti is coach of the year.

Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson and Penn State tight end Tyler Warren were unanimous first-team selections Tuesday by the voting panel of 21 media members who cover the conference.

The first team includes five players from Iowa, four from Ohio State and three each from conference champion Oregon and Indiana.

Repeat first-team selections are Minnesota offensive tackle Aireontae Ersery, Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson and Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins. Ohio State defensive end JT Tuimoloau, a first-team pick in 2022 and ’23, is on the second team.

Gabriel, who transferred from Oklahoma in the offseason, led unbeaten and top-ranked Oregon to the Big Ten championship in its first year in the league. Gabriel averages 274 yards passing per game and has thrown for 28 touchdowns against six interceptions. His 73.2% completion rate is second in the nation.

Carter leads the Big Ten with 19.5 tackles for loss, and his 10 sacks are the most by a Penn State player since Carl Nassib had 15.5 in 2015.

Cignetti has orchestrated one of the great turnarounds of all time in his first season at Indiana. The Hoosiers, who won three games in 2023, have double-digit wins for the first time and will take an 11-1 record into their College Football Playoff first-round game at Notre Dame on Dec. 20.

Ohio State freshman Jeremiah Smith is newcomer of the year. He set school freshman records for receptions (57), yards (934), touchdown receptions (10) and 100-yard games (three).

First-team offense

Wide receivers — Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State, freshman, 6-3, 215, Miami Gardens, Florida; Pat Bryant, Illinois, senior, 6-3, 200, Jacksonville, Florida; Tai Felton, Maryland, senior, 6-2, 186, Ashburn, Virginia.

Tackles — Aireontae Ersery, Minnesota, senior, 6-3, 330, Kansas City, Missouri; Josh Conerly Jr., Oregon, junior, 6-4, 315, Seattle.

Guards — Connor Colby, Iowa, senior, 6-6, 310, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Donovan Jackson, Ohio State, senior, 6-4, 320, Cypress, Texas.

Center — Seth McLaughlin, Ohio State, graduate, 6-4, 305, Buford, Georgia.

Tight end — u-Tyler Warren, Penn State, senior, 6-6, 261, Mechanicsville, Virginia.

Quarterback — Dillon Gabriel, Oregon, graduate, 6-0, 200, Mililani, Hawaii.

Running backs — u-Kaleb Johnson, Iowa, junior, 6-0, 225, Hamilton, Ohio; Kyle Monangai, Rutgers, senior, 5-9, 209, Roseland, New Jersey.

Kicker — Dominic Zvada, Michigan, junior, 6-3, 180, Chandler, Arizona.

All-purpose — Kaden Wetjen, Iowa, senior, 5-10, 196, Williamsburg, Iowa.

First-team defense

Edge rushers — Abdul Carter, Penn State, junior, 6-3, 252, Philadelphia; Mikail Kamara, Indiana, junior, 6-1, 265, Ashburn, Virginia.

Interior linemen — Mason Graham, Michigan, junior, 6-3, 320, Mission Viejo, California; Derrick Harmon, Oregon, junior, 6-5, 310, Detroit.

Linebackers — Jay Higgins, Iowa, senior, 6-2, 232, Indianapolis; Aiden Fisher, Indiana, junior, 6-1, 233, Fredericksburg, Virginia; Carson Schwesinger, UCLA, junior, 6-2, 225, Moorpark, California.

Cornerbacks — D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana, sophomore, 5-9, 170, Miami; Xavier Scott, Illinois, junior, 5-11, 190, Riviera Beach, Florida.

Safeties — Caleb Downs, Ohio State, sophomore, 6-0, 205, Hoschton, Georgia; Koi Perich, Minnesota, freshman, 6-1, 200, Esko, Minnesota.

Defensive back — Sebastian Castro, Iowa, graduate, 5-11, 205, Oak Lawn, Illinois.

Punter — Eddie Czaplicki, Southern California, senior, 6-1, 207, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Second-team offense

Wide receivers — Tez Johnson, Oregon, senior, 5-10, 165, Pinson, Alabama; Elijah Sarratt, Indiana, junior, 6-2, 209, Stafford, Virginia; Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State, graduate, 6-1, 205, Steilacoom, Washington.

Tackles — Gennings Dunker, Iowa, junior, 6-5, 316, Lena, Illinois; Hollin Pierce, Rutgers, senior, 6-8, 344, Trenton, New Jersey.

Guards — Emmanuel Pregnon, Southern California, senior, 6-5, 320, Denver; Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State, sophomore, 6-4, 348, Graham, Washington.

Center — Logan Jones, Iowa, senior, 6-3, 293, Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Tight end — Colston Loveland, Michigan, junior, 6-5, 245, Gooding, Idaho.

Quarterback — Kurtis Rourke, Indiana, graduate, 6-5, 233, Oakville, Ontario.

Running backs — Jordan James, Oregon, junior, 5-10, 210, Nashville, Tennessee; Woody Marks, Southern California, senior, 5-10, 208, Atlanta.

Kicker — Jonathan Kim, Michigan State, graduate, 6-1, 227, Fredericksburg, Virginia.

All-purpose — Woody Marks, Southern California, senior, 5-10, 208, Atlanta.

Second-team defense

Edge rushers — Matayo Uiagalelei, Oregon, sophomore, 6-5, 270, Bellflower, California; JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State, senior, 6-5, 269, Edgewood, Washington.

Interior linemen — Ty Robinson, Nebraska, senior, 6-6, 310, Gilbert, Arizona; Kenneth Grant, Michigan, junior, 6-3, 339, Gary, Indiana.

Linebackers — Cody Lindenberg, Minnesota, senior, 6-3, 240, Anoka, Minnesota; Bryce Boettcher, Oregon, senior, 6-2, 225, Eugene, Oregon; Kobe King, Penn State, junior, 6-1, 248, Detroit.

Cornerbacks — Jermari Harris, Iowa, graduate, 6-1, 189, Chicago; Will Johnson, Michigan, junior, 6-2, 202, Detroit.

Safeties — Jaylen Reed, Penn State, senior, 6-0, 212, Detroit; Lathan Ransom, Ohio State, graduate, 6-1, 210, Tucson, Arizona.

Punter — Rhys Dakin, Iowa, freshman, 6-0, 222, Melbourne, Australia.

Individual honors

Offensive player of the year — Dillon Gabriel, Oregon.

Defensive player of the year — Abdul Carter, Penn State.

Coach of the year — Curt Cignetti, Indiana.

Newcomer of the year — Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State.

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AP All-Big Ten voting panel

Bob Asmussen, Champaign (Illinois) News-Gazette; Colten Bartholomew, Madison.com (Wisconsin); Bill Bender, The Sporting News; Frank Bodani, York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record; Angelique Chengelis, Detroit News; James Crepea, The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon; Scott Dochterman, The Athletic; Dave Eanet, WGN Radio, Chicago; George Gerbo, Washington Times; Andy Greder, St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press; Brenna Greene, KOIN-TV, Portland, Oregon; Zach Hanley, WISC-TV, Madison, Wisconsin; Amie Just, Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star; Stephen Means, Cleveland.com; Luke Mullin, Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star; Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star; Jim Polzin, Madison.com (Wisconsin); Dylan Sinn, Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal Gazette; John Steppe, Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette; Darren Wolfson, KSTP-TV, St. Paul, Minnesota; Andy Yamashita, Seattle Times.

It’s been quite a year for Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher.

He began in the spring with the baseball team playing centerfield where he was a big part of that team’s run to the Super Regional. Boettcher also won the collegiate Gold Glove award.

But on the gridiron with the football team, Boettcher became a key cog to the defense that led the way towards a Big Ten title and a No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

Boettcher started as a walk-on four years ago as he came over from South Eugene High School. Because of his outstanding senior season, Boettcher was awarded the Burlworth Trophy, given to an athlete who began his career as a walk-on.

In 2024, Boettcher leads the Ducks with 84 tackles to go along with his eight tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception.

Also up for the award were Shaun Dolac of Buffalo and Indiana’s James Carpenter. Dolac is also a linebacker which had 87 tackles, 17 for loss and 5.5 sacks. Carpenter, a defensive lineman, had 31 tackles, 10 for loss and five sacks.

Oregon has become a national leader walking and biking to school. Our state had the highest rate of school participation out of 48 states in America who participated in International Walk and Roll to School Day on October 7th.

The news comes from from the Oregon Department of Transportation and is based on numbers from the National Center for Safe Routes to School. That organization crunched data from the 2024 event and found that 210 schools registered for the event out of a total of 921 K-8 public schools. That percentage was higher than California, Virginia, Washington D.C., and Massachusetts.

“The enthusiasm for Walk & Roll to School Day across Oregon reflects our shared dedication to building safer, more connected communities,” ODOT Safe Routes to School Program Manager Heidi Manlove said in a statement. The participation number is almost back to what it was prior to the Covid pandemic. In 2020, just 61 schools participated. But in 2019 the number was 263 schools.

Now imagine if ODOT actually funded the Safe Routes to School program at the level it needs.

It’s clear that House Bill 2017 (the previous transportation spending package passed by the Oregon Legislature in 2017) has helped spark more school-based biking and walking programs statewide. That bill carved out $10 million per year starting in 2018 and $15 million per year starting in 2023 from the State Highway Fund for Safe Routes to School. The funds are distributed through a grant program that can be used to build infrastructure projects or for educational and encouragement programs. 

While the amount was unprecedented and hailed by advocates at the time, it’s not nearly enough to keep up with demand. On August 21st, ODOT’s own Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee wrote a letter to Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) Chair Julie Brown and ODOT Director Kris Strickler. The purpose of the letter was to push back on ODOT’s low-ball estimate for what the program needs going forward as lawmakers look to pass a new funding bill in 2025.

In a document shared at an October 16th meeting of the Joint Committee on Transportation Public and Active Transit Workgroup, ODOT pegged the annual Safe Routes to School need at $50 million per year. That number was based on the average of all project requests in each grant solicitation cycle since the passage of HB 2017.

But leaders of the ODOT Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee say that’s not enough. They say schools request five times the amount available every two-year cycle. In 2024 there were $138 million worth of grants requested for Oregon’s $30 million in available funds. “With this recent oversubscription, as well as the ongoing issue of cost increases for construction projects that we have had to mitigate for with our existing funds, we believe the investment in Safe Routes to School could benefit from up to $75 million per year over the next 30 years to effectively meet the needs of every school in the state.”

The fact that an ODOT committee is publicly asking for more money than ODOT themselves should raise eyebrows. It speaks to the frustration of having a very impactful and popular program that is starved for cash while ODOT continues to pour money into freeway expansion megaprojects statewide. At a meeting of the OTC last week, commissioners approved another $72 million for the $815 million (current estimate) I-205 Abernethy Bridge project — a project whose cost has risen 228% in recent years.

It’s great news that more Oregon kids and families are getting to school without a car. It’d be even better news if the 2025 funding package recognized this and injected Safe Routes with the funding it needs and deserves.