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Texas junior quarterback Vince Young celebrates a 70-3 victory over Colorado in the Big.12 Championship Game.
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Texas owned conference play
After 17 years Bill Snyder retired at KSU
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
The Big 12 Football season can be summed up in one word: Texas.
The Longhorns dominated the conference this season going 12-0 and will play for the National Championship, January 4th against the University of Southern California.
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITTER
Texas' closest game in the conference came in its last regular season game of the year against Texas A&M, when it won 40-29. Besides that game, Texas posted five games where it scored 50 or more points and registered 40 points in every conference game.
Young threw for 2,769 yards this season and 26 touchdowns. He also beat teams with his legs, running for 850 yards and nine touchdowns. Young was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year last week by the league's coaches.
The Longhorns were paced by their quarterback Vince Young. The junior from Houston is expected to receive an invitation this week to the Heisman Trophy Presentation in New York.
Also contributing for Texas this season was freshman running back Jamaal Charles. Charles was named the conference's Offensive Freshman Player of the Year. Charles battled a leg injury for some of the season but still managed to run for 844 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Texas completed its dream season when it defeated Colorado last weekend 70-3 in the Big 12 Championship game.
The only game this season where the Longhorns were held to under 40 points was its thrilling.25-22 victory at then No.4
Ohio State. Young gained a lot of national attention after that game, where he tallied nearly 350 yards of total offense and threw the game-winning touchdown to receiver Limas Sweed with 2:37 to play in the game.
story in the conference on the field, the biggest off the field story was the retirement of Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder.
While Texas was the biggest
Snyder called it quits after 17 seasons as the head coach for Kansas State, where he compiled 136 victories. Snyder retired so he could spend more time with his family. Snyder has accepted a position in the athletics department where he will serve as a special assistant to Athletic Director Tim Weiser.
Texas' closest game in the conference came in its last regular season game of the year against Texas A&M, when it won 40-29. Besides that game. Texas posted five games where it scored 50 or more points and registered 40 points in every conference game.
Snyder will be remembered for engineering one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history. The year before Snyder arrived at Kansas State, the team went 0-11. In just his third season as head coach, Snyder and his team went 7-4 and the coach was given Coach of the Year honors by ESPN.
Things would continue to get better for the Wildcats and Snyder. Just two seasons after the 7-4 season, Snyder's team went 9-2-1 and qualified for just its second bowl appearance ever. That would mark the first of 11 straight postseason appearances for Kansas State.
The 2005 Big 12 season also saw the Baylor Bears do something it had never done before. In its 10th season as a part of the Big 12 Conference, Baylor won its first ever road conference game when it defeated Iowa State.
Although Baylor did miss out on a bowl game by one victory, the Bears featured a young team that will no longer be viewed as a pushover by other team's in the conference. Baylor's other victory in the conference came
Forget the AP and coaches this is the real All-Big 12 team
Daniel Berk has followed the Big 12 Conference for the Kansan all season. After consulting with Kansan editors and sportswriters, he selected the following players for an All-Big 12 Conference team.
OFFENSE
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Texas junior quarterback Vince Young
Vince Young: QB Texas
Adrian Peterson: RB Oklahoma
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♦ Taurean Henderson: RB Texas
♦ Taurean Henderson: RB Texas Tech
♦ J.D Runnels: FB Oklahoma
Joel Filani WR Texas Tech
D'Juan Woods WR Oklahoma State
David Thomas TE Texas
- Davin Joseph: OL Oklahoma*
Jeromey Clary OL Kansas State
DEFENSE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kansas senior linebacker Nick Reid
DEFENSE
- Jonathan Scott OL Texas
- Tony Palmer OL Missouri
Dusty Doveracok DJ Oklahoma
Justin Blalock OL Texas
Jonathan Scott OL Texas
Mark Fenton OL Colorado
Justin Blalock OL Texas
Rodrigue Wright DL Texas
Rodrique Wright DL Texas
Nick Leaders OL Iowa State
Charlton Keith D. Kansas
Nick Leaders DL Iowa State
Rufus Alexander LB Oklahoma
Nick Reid LB Kansas
Avery Morris LB Texas
- Dwayne Slay DB Texas Tech
- ♦ Michael Huff DB Texas
- Charleston Rent DL rents
* Brent Survey DL Iowa State
- Chijioke Onyenegecha DB Oklahoma*
at home to Oklahoma State.
- LaMarcus Hicks DB Iowa State
Cedric Griffin DB Texas
The conference will also have to say goodbye to four senior quarterbacks who went out with a bang in the 2005 season.
The other quarterbacks that will be leaving the Big 12 are Colorado's Joel Klatt, Texas Tech's Cody Hodges and Texas A&M's Reggie McNeal. Klatt was a four-year starter for Colorado and holds nearly every school record in passing.
Mason Crosby Pk Colorado
Headlining the group of seniors was Missouri senior quarterback Brad Smith. Smith became the first quarterback in NCAA history to run for more than 1,000 yards and pass for more than 2,000 yards in a season twice. Smith first accomplished the feat his freshman season in 2002.
- Charles Gordon KR/PR Kansas
Kansas fans will remember Smith most for going 1-3 against Kansas in his four years as starting quarterback and losing his last three games to the Jayhawks.
◆ John Torp PColorado
Hodges was a starting quarterback for the first time this year, but had his impact felt as he threw for 4,010 yards and 30 touchdowns. Hodges will have one more game to add on to his statistics when Texas Tech plays Alabama in the Cotton Bowl.
In all, it was a successful season for the Big 12 as it filled all of its eight bowl spots. Texas will be headlining the group playing in the Rose Bowl.
Despite a disappointing 7-4 season, Oklahoma still gained a berth in the Holiday Bowl and will play 10-1 Oregon. Missouri, at 6-5, will play South Carolina in the Independence Bowl. Iowa State will play Texas Christian University in the Houston Bowl. Colorado will travel to Orlando to play Clemson in the Champs Sports Bowl and it will be a bait of two historic college football teams when Nebraska plays Michigan in the Alamo Bowl.
— Edited by Kellis Robinett