Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
To the victor go the spoils, so it makes sense that K-State would take home some hardware on the heels of their first conference championship since 2003. Yet for a squad picked to finish in the lower half of the conference with few stars and no hope unless it played complete team football, here are the awards handed down by the conference yesterday:
- Coach of the Year
- Defensive Lineman of the Year
- Defensive Player of the Year
- Offensive Player of the Year
That’s four of 11 awards – not shabby of a haul. You can probably guess who took home each of the respective recognitions, but here’s your rundown:
Coach of the Year: Bill Snyder
This is the second straight year Snyder was recognized as coach of the year, and for good reason. The media expected K-State to have the sixth best team in the Big 12. And it’s not like Snyder fielded the catalog of four and five star recruits available to Mack Brown and Bob Stoops. So
Defensive Lineman of the Year: Meshak Williams
The JUCO transfer (who doesn’t start for this team on defense that isn’t a JUCO transfer?) has 13.5 tackles for a loss. That was good for third in the league. He also recorded 9.5 sacks, good enough for first in the league. And as ESPN.com’s David Ubben points out, 8.5 of those sacks were in league play while TCU’s Devonte Fields had just 4.5 sacks.
Defensive Player of the Year: Arthur Brown
There may be players drafted higher than Brown, but few defenders were more important to their team’s success. Brown owned the center of the field and roamed from sideline to sideline while clogging the line of scrimmage. Impossible? Apparently not. Brown is expected to be the highest drafted Wildcat in the NFL, and for good reason.
Offensive Player of the Year: Collin Klein
Who else in the conference could be expected to pull down this honor. Klein was awarded the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award earlier this week, which is annually presented to the best senior quarterback in college football (sorry Johnny Football, but you’ll have to take a couple more communications courses before you’re eligible for this one). It was only right he took home this recognition as well. Klein’s final stats: 2,490 yards passing for 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He added 890 yards rushing for 22 touchdowns. In sum, Klein was responsible fore 132 points.