Seven Boilers honored

The honors continue to be bestowed upon Rob Ninkovich.

One day after being named the Purdue football team's Most Valuable Player, the senior defensive end was selected second team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media.

The 6-foot-3, 251-pound Ninkovich, from New Lenox, Ill., is tied for the top spot in the conference with 1.55 tackles for loss per game (with Tamba Hali of Penn State) and ranks tied for second with 0.73 sacks per game. In the Boilermakers' 41-14 Old Oaken Bucket victory over Indiana last Saturday, Ninkovich tied the Big Ten record with seven tackles for loss and equaled the Purdue standard with four sacks. He had 11 tackles in all and forced a fumble and was named the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week.

Sophomore wide receiver Dorien Bryant was a second-team pick by the media, and sophomore offensive guard Jordan Grimes was second team by the coaches.

Bryant leads the Big Ten with 7.3 receptions per game, ranks second with 87.3 receiving yards per game and is sixth with 141.9 all-purpose yards per game. Grimes was part of an offensive line that allowed merely nine sacks (second-fewest in the conference and fewest by a Joe Tiller-coached Purdue team) and paved the way for an offense that averaged 186.7 rushing yards per game, the second-most by the Boilermakers under Tiller. Purdue ranks fifth in the Big Ten in total offense at 428.5 yards per game

Honorable mention laurels went to Bryant (coaches), Grimes (media), senior offensive tackle Mike Otto (coaches and media), sophomore offensive tackle Sean Sester (coaches), fifth-year center Matt Turner (media) and fifth-year defensive tackle Brandon Villarreal (coaches and media).

In addition, Villarreal was selected Purdue's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

The Boilermakers finished the 2005 season with a 5-6 overall record (3-5 Big Ten Conference). They won their last three games and will open the 2006 campaign Sept. 2 vs. Indiana State at Ross-Ade Stadium.