THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008
SPORTS 3B
FOOTBALL
Stuckey, nine other players earn honors from Big 12
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
Safety Darrell Stuckey's two interceptions and forced fumble against Missouri left Big 12 coaches with a good impression. On Tuesday, those coaches tabbed Stuckey as one of five defensive backs to earn first team all-conference honors.
Stuckey, Kansas City, Kan., junior, was the only Jayhawk on the first team. Kansas earned two spots
on the second team, however, with linebacker James Holt and wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe.
Including honorable mentions, the Big 12 coaches recognized 10 Kansas players.
Stuckey led the team with five interceptions and ranked second with 94 tackles. He also recorded seven pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
Briscoe's season would truly stand out if not for the conference
depth at wide receiver. Briscoe had a school-record 12 touchdowns and caught 78 passes for 1,206 vards.
Holt is a hybrid linebacker who often played like a lineman, and it resulted in a team-high 97 tackles. He also tied for the league lead with six forced fumbles and recorded seven sacks.
Four Oklahoma Sooners were honored with major awards. That includes Sam Bradford - offensive player of the year - and coach Bob
Stoops, who was named co-coach of the year along with Texas Tech's Mike Leach. Oklahoma now leads all Big 12 schools with 23 major awards in the conference's history.
Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo was named Defensive Player of the Year. He became the fourth player in Big 12 history to earn the award after being named Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.
Edited by Brenna Hawley
All-Big 12 team
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB — Sam Bradford, So. (OU)
RB — DeMarco Murray, So. (OU)
RB — Kendall Hunter, So. (OSU)
FB — Matt Clapp, Jr. (OU)
WR — Michael Crabtree, So. (TTU)
WR — Dez Bryant, So. (OSU)
WR — Jeremy Maclin, So. (MU)
TE — Jermaine Gresham, Jr. (OU)
OL — Jason Smith, Sr. (BU)
OL — Phil Loadhot, Sr. (UO)
OL — Duke Robinson, Sr. (UO)
OL — Trent Williams, Jr. (OU)
OL — Russell Okung, Jr. (OSU)
OL — Adam Ulatoski, Jr. (UT)
PK — Jeff Wolfert, Sr. (MU)
KB/DB — Dan Burrent, So. (OSU)
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
FORM DEFENSE
DL — Brian Oakpo, Sr. (UT)
DL — Brandon Williams, Jr. (TTU)
DL — Ziggy Hood, Sr. (MU)
DL — Gerald McCoy, So. (OU)
DL — Roy Miller, Sr. (UT)
LB — Sergio Kindle, Jr. (UT)
LB — Sean Weatherspoon, Jr. (MU)
LB — Joe Pawelek, Jr. (BU)
**DB — Darrell Stuckey, Jr. (KU)**
DB — Darcel McBath, Sr. (TTU)
DB — Nic Harris, Sr. (OU)
DB — Jordan Lake, Jr. (BU)
DB — William Moore, Sr. (MU)
P — Justin Brantly, Sr. (TAMU)
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
BQ — Colt McCoy, Jr. (UT)
RB — Shannon Woods, Sr. (TTU)
RB — Derrick Washington, So. (MU)
FB — Jovorskie Lane, Sr. (TAMU)
WR — Dezmon Briscoe, So. (KU)
WR — Jordan Shipley, Sr. (UT)
WR — Juqua Inglesias, Sr. (OU)
TE — Chase Coffman, Sr. (MU)
OL — Kurtis Gregory, Jr. (MU)
OL — Matt Slason, Sr. (UNL)
OL — Jon Cooper, Sr. (OU)
OL — Chris Hall, Jr. (UT)
OL — Louis Vasquez, Sr. (TTU)
OL — Rylan Reed, Sr. (TTU)
PK — Hunter Lawrence, Jr. (UT)
KR/PR — Jordan Shipley, Jr. (UT)
Mike Rivera, LB; Jake Sharp, RB.
HONORABLE MENTION: Caleb Blakesley, DL; Ryan Cantrell, OL; Jake Laptad, DL; Adrian Mayes, OL; Kerry Meier, WR;
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
FURNISH DEFENSE
DL — Stryker Sulak, Sr. (MU)
DL — Ian Campbell, Sr. (KSU)
DL — George Hypolite, Sr. (CU)
DL — Ndamukong Suh, Jr. (UNL)
DL — Jeremy Beal, So. (OU)
**LB — James Holt, Sr. (KU)**
LB — Travis Lewis,Fr. (OU)
LB — Andre Sexton, Jr. (OSU)
DB — Jacob Lacey, Sr. (OSU)
DB — Dominique Franks, So. (OU)
DB — Lendy Holmes, Sr. (OU)
DB — Ryan Palmer, Sr. (UT)
DB — Daniel Charbonnet, Sr. (TTU)
P — Matt Fodge, Sr. (OSU)
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Junior safety Darell Stuckey watches a pass from Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel sail into his arms during Saturday's Border Showdown. Coaches named Stuckey to the all-Big 12 Conference first team.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Tech coach earns first conference honors
LUBBOCK, Texas — Mike Leach can look back on this season and know he led Texas Tech to its best one yet.
The pirate-loving coach and his No. 8 Red Raiders did it by getting their first win against a top-ranked team, garnering their highest national ranking and capturing their first Big 12 South trophy — the latter a shared prize due to a three-way tie.
Now Leach can add another first. The Associated Press named him Big 12 coach of the year on Tuesday. In balloting by a panel of conference media, Leach got 16 votes to four for Texas' Mack Brown.
Since the conference began in 1996, it is the first time Texas Tech's coach has won the honor.
For the man known to enjoy reading Winston Churchill, the season has seen, well, his finest hour.
"I don't know what to say," said Leach, who's rarely at a loss for words. "I have good people around me. We had a good year, and I had something to do with it, too, you know."
Tech has for years been considered a good team, but the Red Raiders' pass-happy offense was mostly written off as a gimmicky outfit that put up guady numbers in Leach's spread offense. Every quarterback but one has led the nation in passing in Leach's nine seasons, yet the Red Raiders never won more than nine games.
This season is no different from the wild offense standpoint — Tech averages 417 yards passing per game and Graham Harrell will probably be named a Heisman Trophy finalist. But Tech has also added a powerful running game and an improved defense, leading to a top-10 ranking and a school-record 11 victories.
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