Big 12 All-Conference team: Mayfield goes from walk-on to star
Alabama's Derrick Henry was named the 81st winner of the Heisman Memorial Trophy in Manhattan on Saturday. Also along the front row with him was Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey.
For a while, it looked like the Heisman ceremony would need a few more chairs for some Big 12 guys.
Baylor’s Seth Russell had a big-time season going, averaging over four touchdowns a game, until his neck injury in game seven.
TCU's Trevone Boykin was running a close second to LSU's Leonard Fournette in most people's Heismanology rankings until the month of November brought injury and losses.
Baylor's Corey Coleman could have been an invitee, but after setting touchdown records in September and October he was shut out of the end zone in his last four games.
And after finishing fourth in the voting, you could argue that Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield should have been invited to New York to begin with, but he too was left home.
Ultimately, just like the 2014 four-team College Football Playoff, the Big 12 was shut out. Not a single Big 12 player was anywhere near Times Square for the Heisman Trophy announcement, after what once looked so promising for a field of offensive stars,
Regardless of the player-of-the-year snubs, there is still plenty of star power involved in the All-Big 12 team.
Offense
| Position | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| QB | Baker Mayfield | Oklahoma |
| RB | DeAndre Washington | Texas Tech |
| RB | Mike Warren | Iowa State |
| WR | Josh Doctson | TCU |
| WR | Corey Coleman | Baylor |
| TE | Blake Darwin | Oklahoma State |
| OL | Cody Whitehair | Kansas State |
| OL | Joey Hunt | TCU |
| OL | Spencer Drango | Baylor |
| OL | Ty Darlington | Oklahoma |
| OL | La'Raven Clark | Texas Tech |
| K | Ben Grogan | Oklahoma State |
| RET | Morgan Burns | Kansas State |
Mayfield, the dual-threat dynamo, passed for 3,389 yards and 35 touchdowns while throwing just five picks all year. He also added 428 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, mostly on improvised scrambles.
Corey Coleman captured the Biletnikoff Award after leading the Big 12 with 1,363 yards receiving and 20 touchdowns. He also helped the Bears to lead the nation in offense for the third straight year.
Ben Grogan went 14-for-18 on field goals, but his most notable statistic is that he cooly managed two straight game-winning field goals to keep the Cowboys unbeaten early in the season.
Defense
| Position | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| DE | Emmanuel Ogbah | Oklahoma State |
| DE | Shawn Oakman | Baylor |
| DT | Andrew Billings | Baylor |
| DT | Davion Pierson | TCU |
| LB | Eric Striker | Oklahoma |
| LB | Micah Awe | Texas Tech |
| LB | Jordan Evans | Oklahoma |
| CB | Daryl Worley | West Virginia |
| CB | Zach Sanchez | Oklahoma |
| S | Fish Smithson | Kansas |
| S | Jordan Sterns | Oklahoma State |
| P | Nick O'Toole | West Virginia |
Despite mysteriously being left off the Lombardi Award list, Ogbah is the nation's active leader in career sacks with 28 and also set the school record with 19 quarterback hurries in 2015.
Striker currently has 23 career sacks to go along with his 185 tackles. He was named a second-team All-American by the AP after posting 61 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and 11 hurries this season.