Hawk-Item – – Ranked ninth in the Big Ten in pass break-ups (.7), 11th in QB sacks (.4) and 13th in tackles for loss (.9) in 2011 . . . had first career interception and 20-yard touchdown return at Arizona in 2010 . . . one of four seniors named to 2011 Leadership Group . . . one of four juniors named to 2010 Leadership Group . . . one of four sophomores named to 2009 Leadership Group.
2011 Honors – – Roy J. Carver Most Valuable Player, Defense . . . second team all-Big Ten by league media and honorable mention by coaches . . . third team all-Big Ten by College Football Madness and Phil Steele . . . 2011 Preseason Honors – – Named to Ted Hendricks Award and Pony Express Award preseason Watch Lists . . . honorable mention preseason All-America by Consensus Draft Services . . . second team preseason All-Big Ten by Phil Steele’s College Football . . . 2011 – – Started all 13 games, recording 32 solo tackles and 28 assists . . . tied for team lead with eight pass break-ups and was second in tackles for loss (12-58) and QB sacks (5-36) . . . also had one interception, six QB pressures, two recovered fumbles and one caused fumble . . . started at defensive end in 34-7 opening win over Tennessee Tech . . . recorded three solo tackles and two assists in opening win, including one tackle for loss and one QB pressure . . . started at defensive end in triple-overtime loss at Iowa State . . . recorded three solo tackles and one assist at ISU, along with a fumble recovery to stop ISU in the red zone, a pass break-up and a QB pressure . . . started at defensive end in 31-27 win over Pittsburgh . . . recorded four solo tackles and one assist vs. Pitt, including a QB sack, a pass break-up and a recovered fumble for the second straight game . . . started at defensive end in 45-17 win over Louisiana-Monroe, recording two solo tackles and one assist as defense allowed just 59 net rushing yards . . . started at defensive end in 13-3 loss at Penn State, recording four solo tackles and three assists . . . started at defensive end in 41-31 win over Northwestern . . . recorded four tackles vs Northwestern, including two solo stops . . . also had 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 QB sacks . . . had three QB pressures, with one leading to Iowa interception and touchdown return . . . had a forced fumble that was recovered by Iowa and led to a Hawkeye touchdown . . . started at defensive end in 45-24 win over Indiana . . . recorded five tackles vs. Hoosiers, including two tackles for loss and a shared QB sack . . . started at defensive end in 22-21 loss at Minnesota, recording three assisted tackles and one pass break-up . . .started at defensive end in 24-16 win over 13th-ranked Michigan as defense allowed just 323 yards total offense . . . recorded three tackles vs. Wolverines, including two tackles for loss and one QB sack . . . also had three pass break-ups . . . started at defensive end in 37-21 loss to Michigan State . . . recorded two solo tackles and four assists vs. MSU, including two tackles for loss . . . also had a pass break-up and QB pressure . . . started at defensive end in 31-21 win at Purdue as defense allowed just 282 yards total offense . . . recorded five solo tackles and two assists at Purdue, including one QB sack . . . started at defensive end in 20-7 loss at Nebraska . . . recorded three solo tackles and four assists at Nebraska, along with a shared tackle for loss and a pass break-up . . . started at defensive end in Insight Bowl loss to Oklahoma . . . recorded one solo tackle and first pass interception of the season as defense allowed just 275 yards total offense.
2010 Preseason Honors – – Named to preseason Watch List for Ted Hendricks Award and Rotary Lombardi Award . . . 2010 – – saw action in 12 games, starting five . . . recorded 17 solo tackles and 19 assists, along with two pass break-ups, an interception return for a touchdown at Arizona, one forced fumble and a tackle for loss . . . did not see action in 37-17 win over Eastern Illinois . . . saw first action of the season in 35-7 win over Iowa State, recording one solo tackle, three assists and a pass break-up . . . started at defensive end in 34-27 loss at Arizona . . . had first career interception and 20-yard touchdown return in fourth quarter at Arizona to tie score after Iowa had trailed 27-7 . . . also had four solo tackles and two assists . . . started at defensive end in 45-0 win over Ball State as defense allowed just 112 yards total offense . . . recorded one solo stop and two assists vs. Ball State, including a shared tackle for loss . . . saw action in 24-3 win over Penn State as defense allowed just 54 net rushing yards and 301 yards total offense . . . recorded two tackles vs. Penn State, including an assisted tackle for loss . . . started at defensive end in 38-28 win at Michigan, recording one solo tackle and three assists . . . started at defensive end in 31-30 loss to Wisconsin, recording one assisted tackle . . . saw action in 37-6 win over fifth-ranked Michigan State, but had no statistics as defense allowed just 31 net rushing yards and 258 yards total offense . . . saw action in 18-13 win at Indiana, recording one assisted tackle as defense allowed just 91 net rushing yards . . . saw action in 21-17 loss at Northwestern, recording one assisted tackle . . . saw action in 20-17 loss to Ohio State, recording one solo tackle and one assist . . . started at defensive end in 27-24 loss at Minnesota . . . matched career-best with nine tackles at Minnesota, including six solo stops . . . also had caused fumble that led to Iowa’s fourth quarter touchdown and had one pass break-up . . . saw action in 27-24 Insight Bowl win over 12th-ranked Missouri, recording two solo tackles and one assist.
2009 Honors – – Third team all-Big Ten by Phil Steele’s College Football . . . honorable mention all-Big Ten by league media . . . Coaches Appreciation Award, Defense . . . ESPN.com Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week vs. Penn State . . . 2009 – – Started all 13 games at defensive end . . . recorded 27 solo tackles and 36 assists in 13 games . . . tied for third in QB sacks in league games only (.81) in 2009 . . . for all games, tied for eighth in QB sacks (.5) . . . led team with nine pass brreak-ups and had 10 tackles for loss and six QB sacks . . . started at defensive end in 17-16 win over Northern Iowa . . . blocked potential game-winning field goal with seven seconds to play, and also had one solo tackle and one QB pressure . . . started at defensive end in 35-3 win at Iowa State . . . recorded career-high nine tackles at ISU, including six solo stops, and also had a pass break-up and a QB pressure . . . started at defensive end in 27-17 win over Arizona as defense allowed just 253 yards total offense . . . recorded two tackles vs. Arizona, including one tackle for seven-yard loss and one pass break-up . . . started at defensive end in 21-10 win at Penn State . . . recorded QB sack in first period that caused fumble in the endzone and resulted in an Iowa safety . . . eight tackles vs. PSU, including two solo stops and six assists . . . recorded 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 QB sacks to go with the caused fumble . . . started at defensive end in 24-21 win over Arkansas State as defense allowed just 80 net rushing yards . . . recorded two assisted tackles, including a shared tackle for loss, and recovered a fumble vs. ASU . . . started at defensive end in 30-28 win over Michigan . . . recorded five tackles vs. Wolverines, including four solo tackles . . . also had one QB sack and two pass break-ups . . . started at defensive end in 20-10 win at Wisconsin at defense allowed just 87 rushing yards and 243 yards total offense . . . recorded four assisted tackles vs. Badgers, including one assisted QB sack . . . started at defensive end in 15-13 win at Michigan State as defense allowed just 85 net rushing yards . . . recorded eight tackles at MSU, including five solo stops and three assists . . . also had one QB sack and two pass break-ups vs. Spartans . . . started at defensive end in 42-24 win over Indiana as defense allowed just 79 net rushing yards overall and just three points in the second half . . . recorded two assisted tackles, one pass break-up and one QB pressure vs. Hoosiers . . . started at defensive end in 17-10 loss to Northwestern as defense allowed just 239 yards total offense . . . matched career-best with nine tackles vs. Wildcats, including eight assisted tackles and a shared tackle for loss and QB sack . . . started at defensive end in 27-24 overtime loss at Ohio State . . . recorded two solo tackles and two assists vs. OSU . . . started at defensive end in 12-0 win over Minnesota as defense allowed just 48 rushing yards and 201 yards total offense . . . recorded four tackles vs. Gophers, including two tackles for loss and 1.5 QB sacks, and one pass break-up . . . started at defensive end in 24-14 Orange Bowl win over Georgia Tech as defense allowed just 155 yards total offense . . . collected four solo tackles and one assist in Orange Bowl, along with one tackle for loss.
2008 – – Saw action in 46-3 opening win over Maine, recording one solo tackle and one assist . . . saw action in 42-0 win over Florida International, recording two assisted tackles . . . saw action in 17-5 win over Iowa State as defense allowed just 73 rushing yards . . . recorded one solo tackle, one assisted tackle and a pass break-up vs. ISU . . . saw action in 21-20 loss at Pittsburgh, recording one QB sack for minus 10 yards and one QB pressure . . . saw action in 22-17 loss to Northwestern, recording one assisted tackle . . . saw action in 16-13 loss at Michigan State as defense held second leading rusher in the nation to 91 net rushing yards, but had no statistics . . . saw action in 45-9 win at Indiana, recording one solo tackle and one assist . . . saw action in 38-16 win over Wisconsin, recording two solo tackles . . . saw action in 27-24 loss at Illinois, but had no statistics as defense allowed just 60 net rushing yards . . . saw action in 24-23 win over third-ranked Penn State as defense allowed just 289 yards total offense . . . recorded one solo tackle and one assist vs. Penn State, along with one QB pressure . . . saw action in 22-17 win over Purdue as defense allowed just 86 net rushing yards . . . recorded career-best four tackles vs. Purdue, including one solo stop and three assists . . . also recovered a Purdue fumble, had a pass break-up that led to an Iowa interception and one tackle for loss . . . saw action in 55-0 win at Minnesota as defense allowed just seven rushing yards and 134 yards total offense . . . recorded two tackles at Minnesota, including one solo QB sack for minus five yards . . . saw action in 31-10 Outback Bowl win over South Carolina, recording two solo tackles as defense allowed just 43 net rushing yards.
2007 – – Redshirted.
High school honors – – Two-time first team all-conference and all-state . . . honorable mention all-American . . . team captain . . . Career – – finished his prep career with 157 tackles, 18 sacks, two interceptions and two touchdowns . . . had a career-high 13 sacks and 75 tackles as a sophomore . . . recorded a career-high 89 tackles, along with nine sacks and three batted balls as a junior . . . had 68 tackles, nine sacks, two interceptions and two touchdowns as a senior.
Personal – – Born 7/23/89 . . . psychology major . . . winner of the Presidential Award . . . member of prep Honor Roll every trimester . . . parents are Ericka and Gary Binns . . . older brother of RB Marcus Binns . . . high school coaches were Mike Scanlon and Andy Bischoff.