the Big 12 coaches HAD to vote Mack Brown Coach of the Year. That's the only explanation, right? Otherwise, I had heard Bill Snyder and Paul Rhoads. As a Longhorn fan, it ticks me off that our boys got little respect. It also makes me giddy, because I think our boys will be fired up to show the rest of the league why more should have been chosen. Here's to a statement type game from our team (not just Colt).
for real, OP is referring facetiously to the fact that we only had 3 players selected to be first Team All Big 12. Its ridiculous, of course... but I think its awesome! The fact that the individuals on our team get underrated as a whole is just a reflection of the workmanlike attitude these guys have. I hope the Goon Squad wears this like badge of honor and wrecks Jerrah's house this weekend.
for real -- You surely know that I'm being sarcastic with the title of this post. It's in response to the 3 people voted to the first team Big 12 from Texas (versus 4 from OU and OSU). No Marcus Houston? No Muckleroy? No Aaron Williams? At least one of them deserved to be 1st team, if not all 3.
I need to look at the list, but it's not necessarily disrespect unless a player above one of our second teamers is less deserving. Is there a definitive example of that? (serious question, haven't studied the list)...
I was pretty surprised Lamar Houston and Rod Muckelroy weren't on either lists. And what about Hunter Lawrence also?
2009 ALL-BIG 12 FOOTBALL FIRST TEAM Offense Pos. Player School Class Hometown/Previous School(s) QB Colt McCoy ** Texas Sr. Tuscola, Texas/Jim Ned RB Daniel Thomas Kansas State Jr. Hilliard, Fla./NW Mississippi CC RB Keith Toston Oklahoma State Sr. Angleton, Texas/Angleton FB Bryant Ward Oklahoma State Jr. Stillwater, Okla./Stillwater WR Jordan Shipley Texas Sr. Burnet, Texas/Burnet WR Danario Alexander Missouri Sr. Marlin, Texas/Marlin WR Dezmon Briscoe Kansas Jr. Dallas, Texas/Cedar Hill TE Jeron Mastrud Kansas State Sr. Beaverton, Ore./Southridge OL Russell Okung ^ Oklahoma State Sr. Houston, Texas/Bush OL Trent Williams ^ Oklahoma Sr. Longview, Texas/Longview OL Nick Stringer Kansas State Sr. Topeka, Kan./Hayden OL Brandon Carter Texas Tech Sr. Longview, Texas/Spring Hill OL Nate Solder Colorado Jr. Buena Vista, Colo./Buena Vista PK Grant Ressel Missouri So. Jackson, Mo./Jackson KR/PR Brandon Banks Kansas State Sr. Garner, N.C./Bakersfield College Defense DL Ndamukong Suh ** Nebraska Sr. Portland, Ore./Grant DL Gerald McCoy ^ Oklahoma Jr. Oklahoma City, Okla./Southeast DL Von Miller Texas A&M Jr. DeSoto, Texas/DeSoto DL Brandon Sharpe Texas Tech Sr. Lyons, Ga./Fresno City CC DL Jared Crick Nebraska So. Cozad, Neb./Cozad LB Sean Weatherspoon ^ Missouri Sr. Jasper, Texas/Jasper LB Jesse Smith Iowa State Sr. Altoona, Iowa/Southeast Polk LB Travis Lewis Oklahoma So. San Antonio, Texas/Robert E. Lee DB Earl Thomas Texas So. Orange, Texas/West Orange Stark DB Perrish Cox Oklahoma State Sr. Waco, Texas/University DB Dominique Franks Oklahoma Jr. Tulsa, Okla./Union DB Prince Amukamara Nebraska Jr. Glendale, Ariz./Apollo DB Larry Asante Nebraska Sr. Alexandria, Va./Hayfield/Coffeyville CC P Derek Epperson Baylor Jr. Southlake, Texas/Keller ** - Unanimous Selection ^ - Repeat first team selection from last season. Will get back to you with example, but Travis Lewis vs. Muckleroy comes to mind (will pull stats).
Hunter Lawrence is 20/23 on FGs and 59/60 n PATs. Grant Ressel is 24/25 and 38/38. No slam on Lawrence, but it is tough to argue that Ressel isn't deserving.
I can live with Colt and Ship being the only offensive players. Not one MLB or DL from the #1 defense in the league, though? Gimme a break. Goon Squad going to wreck house this weekend.
Our defense is a team defense. Earl Thomas seperated himself from the rest of the guys with 8 INT's. Those out stand out numbers. The reason our defense is so good, IMO, is because we are unselfish. Everyone does their part and it works. The Acho's will have a huge game one week, then Houston will dominate the next. Then out of left field here comes Sergio. Then the next week its Muck and A.Williams. Instead of having one great defensive player making all the plays (i.e Erick Berry), we have a bunch of really really good ones. I like it much better this way. also, I heard a great quote out of Lamar this week on not getting elected or recieving any awards: "I dont care about trophies. What does that do for us? That doesnt help us win this Saturday. I could care less." I para-phrased it.. But when I heard it.. I got this feeling that our D is ready to go for Saturday. They will show everyone that awards don't mean anything.
Regarding Lawrence vs. Ressel, in conference play they are dead even on field goals attempted/made (14 of 15). Both are perfect on PATs (Ressel is 23-23; Lawrence is 38-38). Lawrence has scored 15 more points total. A couple of things that probably put Ressel above Lawrence now that I've looked at the pure stats: He's only missed one field goal the entire year for all games (a 43 yarder against Nebraska); he also has split time handling KO duties (Lawrence has not had a single KO this year). Lawrence's one conference miss was a block against Colorado. He also had misses against UTEP and UCF. So I'll give 1st Team to Ressel over Lawrence, but the head scratcher is why Alex Henery was picked 2nd Team over Lawrence. Henery has missed 4 FGs total for the year (versus 3 for Lawrence), of which 3 misses were in conference (he's 8 of 11 in conference vs. 14-15 for Lawrence). The only thing he does that Lawrence doesn't is punt (but that's separate from PK). He has one KO for a paltry 50 yards. In short, Lawrence should have been 2nd team at worst, and potentially tied with Ressel for first team. Muckelroy vs. Travis Lewis -- Muck wins in all important stats except total tackles and fumbles forced. Here's how it stacks out: Lewis -- Total Tackles in 12 games = 99 (54 solo, 45 assisted) Conference Total Tackes = 60 (32 solo, 28 assisted) TFLs Total/(Conference) = 9.0 (5.5) TFL Yardage Total/(Conference) = 22yds (12 yds) Sacks Total/(Conference) = 1.0 (0.0) PBUs = 2 QB Hurries = 2 Forced Fumbles = 1 Kicks/Punts Blocked = 0 Muckelroy -- Total Tackles in 11 games = 72 (49 solo, 23 assisted) Conference Total Tackes = 55 (38 solo, 17 assisted) TFLs Total/(Conference) = 8.5 (7.5) TFL Yardage Total/(Conference) = 46yds (44 yds) Sacks Total/(Conference) = 2.0 (2.0) PBUs = 4 QB Hurries = 5 Forced Fumbles = 0 Kicks/Punts Blocked = 0 So to summarize, Muckelroy averages more tackles per game in conference play, has more solo tackles in conference play (with one less game played), has 2 more TFLs in conference play (ranks in the Top 10 in conference, while Lewis is not in Top 10), has more TFL yardage in conference than Lewis (almost 4 X the yardage), has more sacks, more PBUs, and more QB hurries. How's that for two examples of our guys getting passed over by players with lesser resumes?
With 5 on the 1st- and 2nd-team offense, it's amazing that Kansas State couldn't just outscore everyone they played. I'm just shocked that they're 83rd in total offense and only scored 34 TDs this season, which is a little skewed when you consider that 33 of those TDs were against aggy. Similarly, how did Nebraska, with 5 on the 1st- and 2nd-team defense and 4 honorable mention defense, and Oklahoma, with 7 (!!!) on the 1st- and 2nd-team defense and 5 (!!!) honorable mention defense, ever get scored on? Unlike Kansas State's offense, at least Nebraska and Oklahoma finished in the top 25 in total defense, albeit behind Texas. I guess it's true that Mack Brown does more with less. Unless, of course, you look at Colorado, who happened to have as many All-Big 12 players as Texas with a **** record to show for it.
Half of this conference has worked for/ with/ is best buds with dick nose Stoops. It's why they were given the Big XII South last year and it's why things like voting for all-conference players makes most scratch their heads when seeing the results. At least this year it's meaningless.
Statalyzer-- Good context to have. That being said, I still would give it to Lawrence (but perhaps my burnt orange tinted glasses prevent me from seeing otherwise).