Posted on December 9th, 2009 by David Whipkey

By David Whipkey

Three Panthers recently received top Big East player awards for their performance on the field this season.

Freshman running back Dion Lewis was named Big East Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year while junior defensive end Greg Romeus and senior defensive tackle Mick Williams shared the Big East Defensive Player of the Year award.

Lewis set the conference ablaze with 1,640 yards rushing to go with 17 touchdowns. He leads the Big East and is third nationally in rushing yards per game (136.67 avg.). The Albany, N.Y. native is the most prolific freshman ground gainer in conference history. He stands 46 yards shy of Tony Dorsett’s 1973 mark of 1,686 yards rushing. Lewis’ 102 points is the new record for points scored by a freshman, overtaking LeSean McCoy’s 90 points set just two years ago.

Former Pitt receiver and current Arizona Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald earned the conference’s offensive player of the year award in 2003.

Romeus led Pitt’s fierce defensive line with 40 stops, including 10.5 tackles for loss and eight quarterback sacks. The Coral Springs, Fla. native also has two forced fumbles, an interception, a fumble recovery and one blocked kick.

Williams was a dominant force in the middle. The senior from Monessen is second in the conference in tackles for loss with 15. He also has three sacks and three forced fumbles to with his 39 total tackles.

Former Pitt linebackers H.B. Blades (2006) and Scott McKillop (2008) also garnered conference defensive player of the year awards.

The Panthers also had 10 first-team all Big East selections overall. In addition to the unanimous selections of Lewis, Romeus and Williams, other Panthers included on the first team were sophomore receiver Jonathan Baldwin, senior cornerback Aaron Berry, senior tight end Dorin Dickerson, senior linebacker Adam Gunn, senior offensive guard John Malecki, junior offensive tackle Jason Pinkston and senior quarterback Bill Stull.

Second team all-Big East included senior tight end Nate Byham, junior safety Dom DeCicco, junior placekicker Dan Hutchins and senior defensive tackle Gus Mustakas.

Notes: Three members of Pitt’s coaching staff were selected as finalists for the FootballScoop.com Coaches of the Year award. They are offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, offensive line coach Tony Wise and Director of Football Operations Chris LaSala.