Just one week after teammate Brandon Vitabile was named to the spring watch list for the Rimington award, given annually to the nation’s best center, return man Venric Mark has also received national recognition for his recent success.
The rising junior has been named to the spring watch list for the Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers Return Specialist Award. This is the second year of the award’s history, with Arkansas’ Joe Adams receiving the inagural honor.
Mark logged 1,150 all-purpose yards in 2011, including 915 on kick returns and 127 on punt returns. He averaged 22.9 yards per kick return which ranked eighth amongst eligible Big Ten return men last season. Mark was one of five Big Ten players named to the watch list, joining Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah, Purdue’s Raheem Mostert, Ohio State’s Jordan Hall and Wisconsin’s Jared Abbrederis.
