Terry Bridgewater captured all the votes for newcomer honors in the Big East.
Bridgewater guided the University of Louisville to the program’s second conference football title and a trip to its 16th bowl game. He is the second-straight U of Lplayer to win this award. Safety Hakeem Smith earned the honor as a red-shirt freshman in 2010, senior running back Victor Anderson in 2008.
The first true freshman to start for the Cardinals at quarterback since 1976, Bridgewater threw for 1,855 yards, surpassing Chris Redman’s freshman passing yardage record, and 12 touchdowns this year. He completed an efficient 66.0 percent of his throws, connecting on 167 of his 253 passes.
- Junior cornerback Adrian Bushell was a first team All-Conference selection after recording 43 tackles and one interception.
- Senior linebacker Dexter Heyman was named to the All-BIG EAST second team on defense. The team’s leading tackler, Heyman started all 12 games at middle linebacker for the Cardinals, recording 83 tackles and a team-best 15.5 tackles for loss.
Somehow someone other than Charlie Strong was voted Coach of the Year by the coaches, Butch Jones of Cincinnati with senior-laden offensive and defensive units. Go figure.