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

The Big Ten Conference 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. The senior also had an interception against Maryland in the Big Ten opener. He only allowed 27 of 60 passes thrown hiss way (45%) to get caught and gave up 350 yards (29 per game) on the season and only one touchdown.

Mike Barrett is the final defender to earn all-league honors, getting named to the coaches' third team. Barrett 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 ffor a touchdown. Barrett also had one pass defended and finished the year with 2.5 sacks.

Last but not least, Jake Moody was named the Big Ten Kicker of the Year. The reigning national Kicker of the Year was once again stellar in his final season with the Wolverines. Moody set a new Big Ten record for field goals in a season (26) going 26-of-32 on the year. He passed Garrett Rivas (2003-06) for most kicks made in a career at Michigan (66) and had his first game-winning field goal in the home finale against Illinois.

Moody went 4-for-4 that day in the second half including the 35-yarder that sealed the 19-17 win with nine seconds remaining. 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.

Michigan national awards finalists

The Wolverines also had three players named for national position of the year awards.

Moody was named a finalist for the Lou Groza Award for the nation's best kicker. He won the award last season.

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

Corum finished the year with 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.

Olu Oluwatimi, Michigan's center who was named to the Rimington Award watch list in the preseason as the nation's best center has done even one better, named as one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy, given to the country's top interior lineman.

Oluwatimi, a Virginia transfer, 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.

Michigan State's All Big Ten defenders

MSU's Cal Haladay earned the top honor among Spartans making his way onto the second team as a linebacker by both coaches and media. Haladay had 120 tackless (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 to the defensive line. 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 also 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.

Bryce Baringer was the special teams star for MSU and was named the Punter of the Year in the Big Ten − the first to win the award in green and white since it began in 2011. Baringer, who was 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.

He ranks first in the nation with a school-record 49.0 yards per punt with 24 of at least 50 yards and 22 downed inside the 20-yard line.

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