Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh: Big Ten Coach of the Year; MSU Bryce Baringer honored

The Big Ten announced its annual awards for standout defensive and special teams players in the league on Tuesday afternoon as well select coaches awards and Michigan and Michigan State were well represented.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year while the Wolverines had six players earn All-league honors, three get named finalists for national awards and two earn Player of the Year at their respective position.

The Spartans meanwhile had five players named to All-Big Ten teams and one be named as a finalist for a national award.

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Michigan brings home the hardware

Even after losing 12 of 22 starters, and both his offensive and defensive coordinators from last year's Big Ten championship team, Harbaugh had the best year of his career and is on pace for a historic year at Michigan.

The Wolverines (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) went through the regular season undefeated, the latest they've gone without a loss since the 1997 national title season. A win in the Big Ten Championship on Saturday against Purdue would give U-M its first 13-win season in program history.

Harbaugh's offense is No. 7 in the nation in scoring (39.8) and the defense is second (12.67). Alabama (fifth in offense, 10th in defense) is the only other team in the country to rank in the top 10 in both categories. It is the first time Harbaugh has won the award since he was hired in 2015.

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All-Big Ten defense

Michigan's Mike Morris was named the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year and to the Big Ten first-team alongside his line mate, Mazi Smith.

Morris had by far the best year of his career, ass he finished the regular season with 21 tackles (14 solo) and a team-high seven sacks to go along with a forced fumble and two deflected passes. The senior was injured late in the game against Nebraska, he was forced to miss all of the game against Illinois and only play 11 snaps vs. Ohio State.

According to Pro Football Focus, Morris (83.0) graded out as Michigan's best defender.

Smith is coming off a career-game against Ohio State, where he played a personal-best 61 snaps. The 6-foot-3, 337-pound senior had a career-high 44 tackles (21 solo) and a sack.

The Wolverines also had two defenders named to the second team by the coaches: linebacker Junior Colson and defensive back DJ Turner. Colson, by far, had the most tackles on the team with 80 (34 solo). Turner also had a standout season, recording 29 tackles (23 solo) with a career-high eight passes deflected and an interception.

Linebacker Mike Barrett was named to the coaches' third team. He finished second on the team in tackles (57) which set a career best and included 30 solo stops. Barrett also had two interceptions, both which came in the third quarter against Rutgers and he even returned one of them all the way for a touchdown.

Michigan's Jake Moody was named the Big Ten Kicker of the Year. Last year's Lou Groza Award winner as the nation's best placekicker was once again stellar in his final college season, setting a new Big Ten record for field goals in a season (26) and passing Garrett Rivas (2003-06) for most kicks made in a U-M career (66). The senior also went a perfect 53-for-53 on extra points and has still not missed a single point-after attempt (141-for-141) in his career.

A.J. Henning was named to the second team by both the coaches and media as a return specialist. He has 184 punt return yards on 25 attempts and one touchdown.

Honorable mention: Gemon Green, Kris Jenkins, Mike Sainristil (coaches and media); Jaylen Harrell, Makari Paige and Rod Moore (media).

Michigan national awards finalists

The Wolverines also had three players named for national position of the year awards: Moody for the Lou Groza Award, Blake Corum for the Doak Walker Award and Olu Oluwatimi for the Outland Trophy.

Running back Blake Corum was named a finalist for the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back.

Corum has 247 carries or 1,463 yards (5.9 yards per attempt) and 18 touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes for 80 yards and a score. Except for last week at Ohio State when the senior tried to battle through a knee injury but was pulled after two carries, Corum had a touchdown in every game and ran for more than 100 yards in every conference game.

Oluwatimi, Michigan's center and the transfer from Virginia, has been the anchor in the middle of what might be the best offensive line in America, and been a weapon in both run blocking and pass protection.

MSU's honors

Bryce Baringer was the special teams star for Michigan State and was named the Big Ten Punter of the Year — the first Spartan to win the award since it began in 2011. Baringer, also named a finalist for the Ray Guy Award as the nation's best punter, went from walk-on to perhaps the best at the position in the school's history. He leads the nation with a school-record 49 yards per punt, downed 22 of them inside the 20-yard line and had 24 punts that traveled more than 50 yards.

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MSU linebacker Cal Haladay earned the top honor among Spartans making his way onto the All-Big Ten second team by both coaches and media. Haladay had 120 tackles (42 solo) to go along with 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. He recorded a career-high 19 tackles against Rutgers earlier this month and had fewer than nine tackles just once in Big Ten play.

Defensive linemen Jacob Slade and Simeon Barrow were both named as honorable mentions. Slade missed a month early in the year, but helped the Spartans defense improve in the back half of the season, he finished with 20 tackles and 0.5 sacks. Barrow, a sophomore, had a career-high 40 tackles (18 solo), nine of which for a loss to go with four sacks. He too missed a game and was limited in others ass he battled injuries through the year.

Xavier Henderson, a captain and fifth-year senior, was named honorable mention by the media. He finished with 38 tackles, three for loss, two forced fumbles and a pass breakup despite missing five games with a lower body injury.

Despite getting named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week three times (tied for the most by a player in a single season in league history), MSU edge/linebacker Jacoby Windmon was left off all of the teams. Windmon was suspended after the incident in the tunnel between Michigan and Michigan State and missed the final four games of the year.

Jayden Reed was named to the third-team as a returner. He had 13 punt returns for 114 yards, but the numbers are deceiving. Twice he took returns more than 70 yards back to the house, but on both occasions a foul away from the play wiped out the touchdown.

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh: Big Ten Coach of the Year