MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Middle Tennessee football program held its annual end of the year team banquet on Saturday evening to honor its top performers and celebrate the 2008 accomplishments. The event was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel and included the debut of the 2008 highlight video.

Among the highlights celebrated was a win over Maryland, the dramatic Hail Mary to defeat FAU on ESPN, a perfect November record, a 4-1 home season, and a new single-season Floyd Stadium attendance record. The evening got underway with the introduction of the 2008 senior class then the first hardware given out were the academic awards. Jim Rost from the Academic Enhancement Center presented the academic awards for 2008 which is given to the student-athlete who has achieved the highest level of academic success from each class. The senior winner was Ivon Hickmon (3.03 GPA), while Phillip Tanner earned the junior award (3.359 GPA). Jamal Lewis was given the sophomore honor (3.2 Fall GPA) and Alan Gendreau brought home the freshman award (3.78 GPA). It marked the third year in a row for Tanner winning the class academic award.

The next awards presented were from Strength and Conditioning Coach Russell Patterson. The Lifter of the Year, which shows the most overall gains from the beginning of the calendar year to date, went to senior defensive lineman Trevor Jenkins for the second year in a row. The Dedication award, which is voted on by the players and given to someone who exhibited the best work ethic both in-season and off-season, was presented to Patrick Honeycutt (offense) and Jeremy Kellem (defense). The Power Hour award was given to freshman Denzell Guerra. The Power Hour is a competition held in the fall between freshmen and redshirt freshmen. The players compete in numerous strong man lifting events and the winner is characterized by strength, endurance, and speed. Guerra won in a highly contested event that saw the points leader change every week during the seven-week contest.

Individually, 34 players received a plaque for earning a "winning performance" from the coaching staff during the 2008 season, which was up from 21 in 2007 (27 of the 34 return in 2009). A "winning performance" is achieved by grading out as a winner for at least eight games based on coaches evaluations. The players earning a "winning performance" on offense were: Joe Craddock, Jacob Longoria, Desmond Gee, Phillip Tanner, Eldred King, Malcolm Beyah, Patrick Honeycutt, Gene Delle Donne, Colin Boss, Jamal Lewis, Brandon McLeroy, Mike Williams, and Mark Thompson. On defense the winners were: Wes Hofacker, Trevor Jenkins, Jamari Lattimore, Brandon Perry, Chris McCoy, Emmanuel Perez, Dwight Smith, Danny Carmichael, Lonnie Clemons, Antwan Davis, Andrew Harrington, Ivon Hickmon, Rod Issac, Jawan Carson, Ted Riley, Alex Suber, Kevin Brown, Jeremy Kellem, and Derrick Crumpton, while Adam Wade and Alan Gendreau picked up honors on special teams.

The most prestigious award, naming the permanent captains, was the last presented. The captains awards, voted on by the players, is the highest honor for a Middle Tennessee football player. The recipients for 2008 were quarterback Joe Craddock, defensive end Wes Hofacker, linebacker Ivon Hickmon, and defensive lineman Trevor Jenkins.

Jenkins closed out the night with a few comments on the season as a representative of the senior class.

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