Shilique Calhoun, Connor Cook Named Semifinalists for National Awards

Calhoun one of 20 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award; Cook one of 17 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award and one of 20 semifinalists for the Maxwell

Calhoun one of 20 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award; Cook one of 17 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award and one of 20 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award.

 

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State fifth-year senior defensive end Shilique Calhoun and fifth-year senior quarterback Connor Cook were both named semifinalists for major national awards on Monday.

Calhoun, who leads the Spartans in sacks (8) and tackles for loss (10.5), was named one of 20 semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is given annually to the college defensive player of the year.

Cook earned semifinalist honors from two awards: the Davey O’Brien Award (nation’s best quarterback) and the Maxwell Award (college player of the year).

Cook, who is a semifinalist the Davey O’Brien Award for the second year in a row, is the winningest quarterback in Michigan State history. He owns a 31-3 record (.912) in his third year as the starter, including a 20-1 (.952) mark against Big Ten opponents. The 31 wins are tied for the most among active starting quarterbacks in the NCAA FBS, along with Stanford’s Kevin Hogan, and the .912 winning percentage is No. 1.

Cook ranks among the Big Ten leaders in touchdown passes (first with 17), passing (second with 258.8 ypg.), passing efficiency (second with 146.4 rating) and total offense (third with 266.6 ypg.). He is three touchdown passes away from becoming MSU’s all-time leader in that category (currently has 64 TD passes; Kirk Cousins threw 66 from 2008-11).

The 6-4, 220-pound Cook earned his 28th career win in the victory over Purdue on Oct. 3, making him the winningest starting quarterback in school history. He passed Spartan signal-caller Kirk Cousins’ school-record mark of 27 career victories for MSU (27-12 record from 2009-11).

After setting a school record with 416 yards of total offense and throwing for a career-high 398 yards in Michigan State’s 52-26 win over Indiana in Week 8, Cook was named the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career. Cook also set career highs for pass completions (30) and pass attempts (52) against the Hoosiers and tied his career best with four touchdown passes. He produced some of the top single-game passing totals in school history: completions (tied for sixth with 30), pass attempts (sixth with 52), passing yards (second with 398) and TD passes (tied for second with 4). The 398 passing yards were just two shy of MSU’s single-game record (Bill Burke, 400, vs. Michigan in 1999).

It marked Cook’s third straight and ninth career 300-yard passing game. He recorded his fifth 200-yard passing game of the season and 23rd of his career, tying Jeff Smoker (2000-03) for second on MSU’s all-time list. Cook completed passes to seven different receivers. He has thrown at least one TD pass in 11 consecutive games.

With a career-best 398 passing yards against Indiana, Cook became just the third quarterback in MSU history to reach the 8,000-yard career milestone (8,133 passing yards). Cook also moved past Smoker (61, 2000-03) into second place on MSU’s all-time list with 64 career TD passes. He also jumped Drew Stanton (8,036, 2003-06) into third place on MSU’s career chart with 8,349 yards total offense.

Cook’s effort against the Hoosiers was also named one of the “Great Eight” performances of the week by the Davey O’Brien Award.

Cook became just the second Spartan starting quarterback to defeat Michigan three consecutive times (Cousins, 2009-11) in MSU’s 27-23 triumph at Michigan Stadium in Week 7. He threw his 60th career touchdown pass with a 30-yard pass to Macgarrett Kings Jr. in the third quarter and completed 18-of-39 passes overall for 328 yards. It marked Cook’s fifth fourth-quarter comeback for the Spartans (2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl vs. TCU; 2013 vs. Ohio State in Big Ten Championship Game; 2014 Rose Bowl vs. Stanford; 2015 Cotton Bowl vs. Baylor; 2015 vs. Michigan).

Cook threw for 367 yards – the fifth-highest total in school history – and two touchdowns in the win at Rutgers in Week 6. His showing against the Scarlet Knights was named one of the “Great 8” performances of the week by the Davey O’Brien Award. With the score tied at 24 with 4:16 to play, Cook engineered a 10-play, 76-yard game-winning touchdown drive to lead MSU to a 31-24 win. His 29-yard completion on third-and-9 from the MSU 25 to R.J. Shelton kept the drive alive and led to LJ Scott’s 3-yard TD run with 43 seconds remaining in the game.

Cook accounted for 187 total yards against Purdue. He completed 13-of-19 throws for 139 yards, including a 23-yard TD toss to Shelton in the second quarter, and connected on eight consecutive throws during one stretch in the first half. He also completed throws to eight different receivers. In addition, Cook rushed five times for a career-high 48 yards (previous high: 35 yards on four carries vs. Western Michigan in 2013 season opener), including a career-long 22-yard run in the third quarter.

In MSU’s 35-21 victory over Air Force on Sept. 19, Cook matched his career high with four touchdown passes and was 15-of-23 passing for 247 yards. He connected three times for scores with Aaron Burbridge, who tied MSU’s single-game touchdown reception record against the Falcons and was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.

Cook completed 20-of-32 throws for 192 yards and two touchdowns in the 31-28 win over then-No. 7 Oregon on Sept. 12 in Spartan Stadium. Cook improved his record to 4-1 as the starting quarterback at MSU against teams ranked in The Associated Press Top 10, which ranks tied for second most in school history (Steve Juday: six wins from 1963-65; Bill Burke: four wins from 1998-99).

In the season opener at Western Michigan, Cook threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns while completing 15-of-31 passes.

Cook finished the 2014 season ranked among MSU’s single-season leaders in TD passes (second with 24), passing yards (third with 3,214 yards), 200-yard passing games (tied for third with 10), passing efficiency (fifth with 149.4 rating), pass attempts (sixth with 365) and pass completions (ninth with 212).

In addition, Cook led the Big Ten in passing (247.2 ypg.) and ranked second in the NCAA FBS in passing yards per completion (15.2). He ranked second in the Big Ten and 19th in the FBS in passing efficiency (149.4 rating), and also ranked among the Big Ten leaders in passing yards (3,214), touchdown passes (second with 24), total offense (third with 253.4 ypg.) and completion percentage (sixth at .581).

Cook tied a school record, shared by Kirk Cousins and Drew Stanton, by throwing for a TD pass in 16 straight games (streak snapped at Maryland Nov. 15). He has thrown a touchdown pass in 11 consecutive games, dating back to Nov. 22 vs. Rutgers last season, heading into Saturday’s game vs. Nebraska.

In leading MSU to back-to-back bowl wins over No. 5 Stanford and No. 4 Baylor (Associated Press final regular-season ranking), Cook hit 46-of-78 throws (.590) for 646 yards (323.0 yards per game), four TDs and three interceptions. In three postseason bowl appearances (2012 Buffalo Wild Wings vs. TCU), he owns MSU career records for passing yards (693) and TD passes (5).

Cook and Dan Enos are the only two Spartan quarterbacks to win two bowl games as the starting quarterback (Cook: 2014 Rose, 2015 Cotton; Enos: 1989 Aloha, 1990 Sun). Cook also led the Spartans on a game-winning drive in the 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl against TCU. Cook has led the Spartans to three straight fourth-quarter comebacks in bowl games.

The Hinckley, Ohio, native is ranked among MSU’s all-time leaders in 300-yard passing games (second with nine), touchdown passes (second with 64), 200-yard passing games (tied for second with 23), passing efficiency (third with 142.8 rating), passing yards (third with 8,133), pass attempts (third with 1,016), total offense (third with 8,349 yards), pass completions (third with 590), and pass completion percentage (ninth at .581).

Among active NCAA FBS quarterbacks, Cook ranks among the leaders in passing yards (sixth with 8,133), touchdown passes (sixth with 64), total offense (10th at 8,349 total yards), passing yards per game (19th at 214.0 ypg.) and passing efficiency (22nd with 142.8 rating).

Calhoun, a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection and two-time second-team All-American, leads the Spartans in sacks (8.0 for 54 yards) and tackles for loss (10.5 for 60 yards) this season. His eight sacks are fourth most in the Big Ten and seventh in the FBS, and he’s also tied for sixth in the conference in tackles for loss. Calhoun ranks first among Spartan defensive linemen with 30 tackles overall and his 108 production points are second most on the team. He was named one of 22 quarterfinalists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy on Oct. 22.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Calhoun was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season and third time of his career following his performance in the 27-23 win at No. 12 Michigan on Oct. 17. Calhoun, who wore No. 43 in tribute to injured linebacker Ed Davis, recorded five tackles, including a career-best 3.5 for losses (11 yards) against the Wolverines. His tackles for losses included two sacks (6 yards). The Spartan defense forced Michigan to go three-and-out on six possessions and limited the Wolverines to season lows in total yards (230) and rushing yards (62).

He also was named the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week after recording a season-high six tackles in No. 2 Michigan State’s 30-10 victory Central Michigan on Sept. 26, with three resulting in losses (24 yards) including 2.5 sacks (24 yards). Calhoun also was credited with four quarterback hurries, one pass break-up and a blocked kick against CMU. He finished the game with a team-high 37 production points, the most by a Spartan defensive player this season.

Calhoun earned All-America honors in 2014 from the Football Writers Association of American (second team), Walter Camp Football Foundation (second team), Phil Steele (second team), Athlon Sports (fourth team) and SI.com (honorable mention).

With his second straight selection to the All-Big Ten First Team in 2014, Calhoun entered elite company in Michigan State history, joining College Football Hall of Famer Charles “Bubba” Smith (1965-66) and Sam Williams (1957-58) as the only other Spartan defensive ends to earn back-to-back first-team All-Big Ten honors. He also was named the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2013.

Calhoun ranks among MSU’s all-time leaders in tackles for loss yardage (second with 246), sack yardage (third with 191), sacks (third with 24.5), tackles for loss (fifth with 39.5), and fumble recoveries (tied for 10th with five). In 48 career games, including 35 consecutive starts, he has 112 tackles with 39.5 resulting in losses (35 percent). His 24.5 sacks are the most by any Spartan in the Mark Dantonio era and rank tied for first among active players in the NCAA FBS, along with Ohio State’s Joey Bosa.