Award Watch: The Big XII Edition

Brandon Olsen

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One of the things that fans looks forward to every season is which player is going to win what award. In other words, if you’re a fan of a team in the Big XII, this is going to be fun. The awards we’ll be looking at are the actual Big XII awards; Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Best Freshman (Offense), Best Freshman (Defense), Newcomer of the Year, and Breakout Player.

Offensive Player of the Year

This award was the easiest one to hand out of the bunch. In other words, Jalen Hurts is currently one of the top Heisman candidates and he’s far and away been the most productive offensive player in the Big XII with a stock that’s been soaring. The surprise here is likely that Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard is ahead of Texas QB Sam Ehlinger, but Hubbard has had a remarkable year thus far. In other words, Hubbard is on pace for almost 2,400 total yards and 27 touchdowns.

Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma – 2,074 passing yards, 705 rushing yards, 30 total touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 74% completion

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Oklahoma State – 194 carries, 1,265 rushing yards, 6 catches, 24 receiving yards, 15 total touchdowns

Sam Ehlinger, QB, Texas – 2,057 passing yards, 318 rushing yards, 26 total touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 69.4% completion

Defensive Player of the Year

If this award went to the player that was the biggest name on the defensive side of the ball, Kenneth Murray would be the runaway favorite. However, this isn’t a popularity contest and the award is going to go to the most productive defensive player. Douglas Coleman III had three career interceptions before this season, he’s already got six. No player in the Big XII deserves this award nearly as much as Douglas Coleman III does.

Douglas Coleman III, S, Texas Tech – 41 total tackles, 6 interceptions, 2 passes defended

Kenneth Murray, LB, Oklahoma – 51 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 2 passes defended

James Lynch, DL, Baylor – 19 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 2 passes defended, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery

Coach of the Year

This might as well be renamed the Lincoln Riley award. For as long as Lincoln Riley is coaching at Oklahoma, this award will likely be his to lose. Baylor coach Matt Rhule could dethrone Riley for the year if Rhule’s Bears win out, especially considering the undefeated start to the season for Baylor was unexpected.

Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma – 7-0

Matt Rhule, Baylor – 7-0

Matt Campbell, Iowa State 5-2

Best Freshman (Offense)

If you’ve looked at my Twitter feed over the past few months, you’ll know that I’m a full-blown Roschon Johnson stan at this point. Johnson is a QB-to-RB convert and he’s excelled so far this year. Oklahoma State QB Spencer Sanders has had his fair share of letdowns, but he’s got the potential to be a superstar. If Iowa State RB Breece Hall spent the whole season as the starting running back, I’m confident this award would belong to him, but he just recently became the top dog in Ames.

Roschon Johnson, RB, Texas – 74 carries, 409 rushing yards, 14 catches, 109 receiving yards, 4 total touchdowns

Spencer Sanders, QB, Oklahoma State – 1,490 passing yards, 457 rushing yards, 13 total touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 62.1% completion

Breece Hall, RB, Iowa State – 63 carries, 399 rushing yards, 4 catches, 78 receiving yards, 5 total touchdowns)

Best Freshman (Defense)

The Big XII isn’t known for their defense to begin with so this was easily the most difficult award to decide. Freshmen seeing consistent playing time is hard enough as it is but these three are some of the few that see the field. Kansas’ Gavin Potter is the current leader for the award, but Nik Bonitto isn’t too far behind at all.

Gavin Potter, LB, Kansas – 28 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks

Nik Bonitto, LB, Oklahoma – 23 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks

Xavier Benson, LB, Texas Tech – 26 total tackles, .5 tackles for loss

Newcomer of the Year

Armand Shyne out of Texas Tech and Andrew Parchment out of Kansas have had solid starts to their season so far, but unfortunately, they’ve got some competition. Jalen Hurts is winning this award without a doubt. He’s had the strongest season in the conference so looking at just newcomers is unfair for the rest of them.

Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma – 2,074 passing yards, 705 rushing yards, 30 total touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 74% completion

Armand Shyne, RB, Texas Tech – 53 carries, 321 rushing yards, 11 catches, 54 receiving yards, 3 total touchdowns

Andrew Parchment, WR, Kansas – 35 catches, 505 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns

Breakout Player

Chuba Hubbard has played 7 games so far and he’s almost doubled his output from last season, when he was backing up current Baltimore Ravens RB Justice Hill. We’ve known Hubbard had the talent, but he’s exceeded every expectation. Devin Duvernay and James Lynch have really broken out in their final seasons. Without the exceptional season of Chuba Hubbard, this award race would be much closer.

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Oklahoma State – 194 carries, 1,265 rushing yards, 6 catches, 24 receiving yards, 15 total touchdowns

Devin Duvernay, WR, Texas – 7 carries, 22 rushing yards, 61 catches, 627 receiving yards, 7 total touchdowns)

James Lynch, DL, Baylor – 19 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 2 passes defended, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery

Disagree? Have any other suggestions? Let me know on Twitter @WNS_Brandon

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