Denarius McGhee was named Big Sky Co-Offensive MVP on Tuesday
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
McGhee Earns Big Sky Co-Offensive MVP Honors
11/23/2010 6:40:12 PM | Football
Person, Ogden, Cunningham earn First Team All-Big Sky honors
Denarius McGhee has no thoughts of cutting his 2010 Big Sky Conference Offensive Co-MVP plaque into small sections to share with the others he said deserve it, but he also had no thoughts that he might be in line for that honor, which he received Tuesday.
“That has been the last thing on my mind,” McGhee (Euless, Tex.) said of becoming the first Bobcat to earn the Offensive MVP award since Kelly Bradley in 1984. “The only reason I got that award was because of my teammates. If we don't have success like we have had, there's no chance I would get that award. If Julius (Lloyd) doesn't catch the ball, if Everett (Gilbert), if Elvis (Akpla), if (Tanner) Bleskin, if they don't catch the ball like they do and we don't run the ball the way we do, because the run game opens up the pass game, I wouldn't even be in this situation. It's a team effort that I got that award.”
One of McGhee's teammates on offense, senior tackle Mike Person (Glendive, Mont.), earned First Team All-Big Sky honors for the second time. Person didn't allow a sack during the 2010 regular season, and anchored a Bobcat offense that compiled more first downs, yards, and points in the league. The Bobcats also allowed only 13 sacks, second-fewest in the Big Sky, in spite of injuries to four of the team's top nine linemen.
“Wow, Mike is a great player,” McGhee said of Person. “I don't think I've gotten hit once this year because of Mike, not even once. He holds my back side down, I haven't got hit in the back, my back hasn't been hurting this whole year. Mike is a great player, and Mike will play after this (season).”
Montana State also landed kicker Jason Cunningham (jr., Amarillo, Tex.) and defensive tackle Dan Ogden (sr., Kalispell, Mont.) on the All-Big Sky First Team. Cunningham led the Big Sky in field goals, while Ogden finished second in the Big Sky in sacks and fourth in tackles-for-loss.
McGhee, who threw for 2,940 yards and rolled up 3,116 yards of total offense as a redshirt freshman, shared the award with Eastern Washington running back Taiwan Jones. The Bobcat quarterback is the first freshman so honored since NAU's Jason Murrietta in 2003. He is the first Big Sky player since EWU's Josh Blankenship in 2002 to win Offensive MVP and Newcomer of the Year honors in the same season.
McGhee was unfazed by the dual honor. “I don't think of myself as a freshman,” he said. “I just think of myself as another one of the guys.”
SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS
Co-Offensive MVP – Denarius McGhee, QB
Newcomer of the Year – Denarius McGhee, QB
MONTANA STATE ALL-BIG SKY HONOREES
First Team: QB Denarius McGhee, OT Mike Person, DT Dan Ogden
Honorable Mention: WR Julius Lloyd, WR Everett Gilbert, WR Elvis Akpla, WR Tanner Bleskin, P Rory Perez, DT Zach Minter, LB Aleksei Grosulak, LB Jody Owens, S Jordan Craney, S Michael Rider, ST Blayde Becksted.
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