NIU cornerback Randee Drew was surprised to hear on Sunday night that the Huskies led the MAC in all-conference nominations for the second year in a row, with 10 nominations.

Drew was named First-Team All-MAC for the second consecutive year, along with running back Michael Turner.

Turner led the MAC in rushing for the second straight year with 1,648 yards. He also had 17 touchdowns, 14 rushing and three receiving. Both marks were the highest in the conference, excluding quarterbacks.

Drew was second in the league with six interceptions.

“This shows where our program has come from and how much our program has done,” Drew said. “We have a lot of impact players, and it’s nice to see that the conference recognizes that.”

Other first-team selections for the Huskies were junior offensive lineman Jake VerStraete, senior wide receiver P.J. Fleck, junior linebacker Brian Atkinson, senior lineman Vinson Reynolds and senior kicker Steve Azar.

Azar became the first NIU player to be an all-MAC selection in each of his four years. He was an honorable mention in 2000, a second-team selection in 2002 and a first-team selection this season as well as 2001.

VerStraete, Fleck and Reynolds were all first-time honorees.

Atkinson was a second-team selection a year ago.

Senior safety Akil Grant was the lone second-teamer for the Huskies. The 5-foot-11 safety also was a second-team selection in 2001.

Grant led the Huskies in tackles with 93 before spraining his left knee the week of Oct. 25.

Center Todd Ghilani and linebacker Nick Duffy were honorable mentions.

Ghilani was second-team all-MAC last season.

Duffy played in six games before breaking his right fibula on Oct. 11 at Central Michigan.

Miami-Ohio had the second most selections with nine. The Redhawks will play at Bowling Green on Thursday for the MAC championship.

Toledo and Marshall each had seven players represented with All-MAC status.

Other first-teamers on offense were Miami-Ohio quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Marshall receiver Darius Watts, and Toledo lineman Nick Kaczur and tight end Andrew Clarke.

Clarke, a Naperville native, attended Neuqua Valley High School.

Watts and Kaczur were first-teamers a year ago, while Roethlisberger was a member of the second team in 2002.

Roethlisberger had 29 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Toledo’s Brad Gradkowski had 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions and led the conference in pass efficiency with 161.5. However, the sophomore quarterback wasn’t named to any of the all-MAC lists.

On defense, Western Michigan defensive tackle Jason Babin was named to the first team for the second straight year.

BGSU senior quarterback Josh Harris was a second-team honoree. He led the MAC in total yards with 320.5 per game.