Hutchinson Leads Trio of Wolverines Named Academic All-Americans
12/15/2021 1:34:00 PM | Football, Academic Success Program
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Three members of the University of Michigan football program received Academic All-America honors from the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America, it was announced on Wednesday. Senior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was first-team selection, with junior linebacker David Ojabo and graduate student offensive lineman Andrew Vastardis selected to the second team.
Hutchinson, Ojabo, and Vastardis were voted to the Academic All-America team from the Academic All-District 5 team, representing three of Michigan's program-record five all-district honorees. Three Academic All-Americans in one season are the most all-time with at least one of those honorees being a first-team selection.
The 1980 team also had three honorees (Norm Betts, Bubba Paris, John Wangler), but all were second-team selections. Hutchinson is the first Wolverine to pick up first-team honors since Zoltan Mesko in 2009. He is the 20th Wolverine with first-team honors in program history.
To be eligible for the Academic All-America ballot, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve (playing in at least 50 percent of games) with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average. Sports information directors from across the country vote on the honor, which recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in academics and athletics.
This trio has helped U-M achieve a 12-1 record, a Big Ten Championship, and the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff. The Wolverines list top-25 in seven major defensive categories and top-25 in eight major offensive areas. Only Michigan, Georgia and Cincinnati are ranked top-15 in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
Vastardis is a native of Ashburn, Va., pursuing his master's degree in physiology after earning an undergraduate B.S. in movement science. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection by the media this fall, helping lead a rushing offense ranked No. 10 in the country at 223.8 yards per game. U-M is top-three nationally in fewest tackles for loss and sacks allowed, and Vastardis is the highest-graded run-blocking lineman on the unit, according to Pro Football Focus College.
Ojabo is an English major and Hutchinson is earning his degree in applied exercise science. Together, they have the highest combined sack total of any duo in the country (25.0), led by 14.0 from Hutchinson, which is the new single-season Michigan record. Together, they are the first pair of U-M teammates to reach double-digit sacks in the same season, and the second pair to combine for 20.0 in one season (1985: Hammerstein, Messner). Ojabo also has set the single-season forced fumbles record (five) at U-M.
Hutchinson was the runner-up for the 2021 Heisman Trophy, the third defensive player in college football history to finish second in the voting. He has won the Rotary Lombardi Award, the Lott IMPACT Trophy, the Ted Hendricks Award, and been a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and the NFF William V. Campbell Trophy this season. He also was recognized as the Big Ten's Woodson-Nagurski Defensive Player of the Year and the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year and has been recognized as a first team All-American by several publications.
The Wolverines are preparing for the Capital One Orange Bowl (Dec. 31), set to air on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
