Curt Cignetti Repeats, Indiana, Ohio State Dominate AP All-Big Ten 1st Team

Indiana and Ohio State dominated The Associated Press All-Big Ten honors announced Tuesday, with the Hoosiers' Curt Cignetti repeating as coach of the year, quarterback Fernando Mendoza taking two individual awards and Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and quarterback Julian Sayin each receiving one.

The Big Ten champion Hoosiers and Ohio State, the top two seeds in the College Football Playoff, combined to put 13 players on the 27-man first team.

Mendoza was named the conference's offensive player of the year and top first-year transfer, Downs was defensive player of the year and Sayin the freshman of the year.

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson and Downs were unanimous first-team selections by the voting panel of 24 media members who cover the Big Ten.

Repeat first-team picks were Downs, Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, Iowa all-purpose player Kaden Wetjen, and Indiana teammates Aiden Fisher at linebacker and D'Angelo Ponds at cornerback.

Ohio State had seven players on the first team, all but one on defense, and Indiana had six.

The 64-year-old Cignetti continues to amaze two years after he took over an Indiana program that had the most losses in major-college football history. He led Indiana to a 13-0 record, the program's first Big Ten title since 1967 and to its first No. 1 ranking in the AP poll. This was after his improbable first season that saw the Hoosiers go 11-2 and make the CFP for the first time.

Mendoza, who joined the Hoosiers after two years at California, has completed 71.5% of his passes for 2,980 yards and leads the nation with 33 touchdown passes. He has thrown just six interceptions.

Downs, a finalist for four national awards, helps anchor a dominant defense that has allowed fewer than 100 points