Lemont alumnus David Molk tabbed as nation’s top center with Rimington
Trophy
Lemont High School graduate and University of Michigan football standout David Molk ‘07 has been named winner of the 2011 Rimington Trophy, which is presented to nation’s most outstanding center. Molk was named winner of the award during the Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show, which aired on ESPNU on December 8.
This is the third straight season Molk was named to the Rimington Trophy “watch” list. He was one of six finalists for the award last season. The other five finalists this season included Clemson University’s Dalton Freeman, Oklahoma State University’s Grant
Garner, University of Georgia’s Ben Jones, University of Wisconsin’s Peter Konz, and University of Alabama’s William Vlachos.
The winner of the Rimington Trophy is selected by determining the consensus All-American center pick from the All-America teams published by the American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News and the Walter Camp Foundation. Molk will be recognized at the Rimington Trophy
Presentation at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday, January 14, 2012.
Last month, Molk was named the inaugural recipient of the Big Ten Conference’s Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year award. Molk repeated as a first-team All-Big Ten honoree at center from the league’s coaches, and also was named as a second-team all-conference selection according to the league’s media for the second straight year. Molk also was tabbed as a first-team All-America honoree by the Walter Camp Foundation.
A four-year starter, the 6’2”, 286-pound fifth-year senior also was named to the Rotary Lombardi Award watch list for the second time in as many years in 2011.
Molk has started all 12 games for first-year head coach Brady Hoke’s Wolverines this fall, made 25 consecutive starts dating back to the beginning of the 2010 season, and started 41 games in his Michigan career. Molk has helped his team average 34.2 points and 235.7 rushing yards per game, each of which ranks second in the Big Ten. Michigan’s offensive line has allowed just 15 sacks in 12 games, which ties for the
second-fewest in the Big Ten.
Michigan is 10-2 in 2011, and with its 6-2 league mark, finished as the runner-up in the Big Ten’s Legends Division. The Wolverines currently are ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press poll, and will face Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl on January 3.
Molk was a three-year starter for head coach Eric Michaelsen at Lemont. In his last three seasons (2004-06), he helped the Indians post a 27-7 record, which included the program’s first-ever IHSA Playoff quarterfinal appearance in 2005, when Lemont established a single-season record (since broken) for victories with a 10-2 mark.
