Gophers

Gophers linebacker Thomas Barber earns third-team All-Big Ten honors

Minnesota had six players honored by the conference, including linebacker Jonathan Celestin with a sportsmanship award

By Randy Johnson

November 28, 2017 at 5:01PM

(Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Big Ten announced its all-conference teams for defense and special teams and its sportsmanship award honorees on Tuesday, and the Gophers had six players honored.

Sophomore linebacker Thomas Barber earned third-team honors from conference media members, while sophomore defensive end Carter Coughlin, senior defensive tackle Steven Richardson, junior kicker Emmit Carpenter and senior punter Ryan Santoso received honorable mention.

Those five players also were named honorable mention by the Big Ten coaches.

In addition, senior linebacker Jonathan Celestin was a sportsmanship award honoree.

The Big Ten will announce its offensive all-conference team on Wednesday and its individual award honorees on Thursday.

Barber lead the Gophers and ranked third in the Big Ten with 115 tackles, and his 76 solo tackles were tops in the conference. Coughlin led the Gophers with 11.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, with the sack total ranking seventh in the Big Ten. Richardson, a four-year starter, constantly faced double-teams and finished with 23 tackles, 3.5 for loss.

Carpenter made 14 of 20 field-goal attempts this year, while Santoso averaged 43 yards per punt, which ranked third in the conference.

Celestin was an inspirational leader for the Gophers, finishing second on the team with 78 tackles despite playing a large part of the season with an injured elbow. Celestin had one of the season highlights for the Gophers when his interception return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter sealed a 24-17 victory over Illinois. When Celestin scored, he pointed to the sky, dedicating the TD to his father, Frederick, who was struck and killed by an SUV in Albany, Ga., in April.