Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Big 12 Conference football season is over for everyone except the Missouri Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners, which means it’s time for some All-Big 12 and All-KU selections.
Big 12 Offensive player of the year: Colt McCoy, Texas quarterback.
Sam Bradford is the safe choice here, but McCoy did more with less to work with in 2008. Bradford had a higher quarterback rating, threw for 500 more yards and commandeered his team to the title game. But McCoy finished with the nation’s third-best quarterback rating without the benefit of prolific running backs. In fact, McCoy was the Longhorns’ running game. He gained 576 yards and scored 10 touchdowns on the ground.
Kansas offensive player of the year: Kerry Meier, junior wide receiver.
Someone should tell ESPN and Fox Sports that Meier is not a backup quarterback playing wide receiver. He’s the most steady receiver in the conference, maybe even the nation. He reeled in 87 receptions and seven touchdowns this season.
Big 12 Defensive player of the year: Brian Orakpo, Texas defensive end.
Orakpo, a 260-pound pass-rusher with the most beastly body in college football, outdid his impressive workout numbers (515-pound bench press, 4.6-second 40-yard dash) with his stat line (10.5 sacks, 36 tackles, 15.5 tackles-for-loss and four forced fumbles).
Kansas defensive player of the year: James Holt, senior linebacker.
Sophomore defensive end Jake Laptad and junior safety Darrell Stuckey deserve mention for helping support Kansas’ lax defense, but Holt emerged as a true star this season. The outside linebacker, who arrived at KU as a safety before bulking up to 220 pounds, recorded seven sacks and led the Jayhawks with 97 tackles and 15.5 tackles-for-loss.
Big 12 Special teams player of the year: Dez Bryant and Perrish Cox, Oklahoma State returners.
Byrant, a punt returner, and Cox, a kickoff returner, each led the Big 12 in yards per return in their respective fields. They combined to score four touchdowns.
Kansas speacial teams player of the year: Jacob Branstetter, freshman kicker.
Branstetter posted a healthy 75 percent mark on field goals. What he lacked in leg strength he made up for with tackling gusto on kickoffs. He made a few impressive stops, including a key takedown of Missouri returner Jeremy Maclin late in the Border Showdown victory.
Oops, my bad
Most sincere apologies to the Kansas football team, which I thought would lose — and lose big — to Missouri in last weekend’s Border Showdown.
Stuckey proved that good things happen to great people who work hard and never give up on a play. Todd Reesing showed the value of unbreakable confidence against immense odds. Kerry Meier displayed the best hands in the Big 12. Jake Sharp battled through some serious pain to remind everyone of his viability as an every-down back. Laptad rekindled memories of former KU pass-rusher extraordinaire, Charlton Keith.
I was wrong; Mark Mangino and the Jayhawks were right.
I learned my lesson. I won’t pick against Kansas no matter which poor Big Ten team it draws in the Insight Bowl.
— — Edited by Andy Greenhaw
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