Five Sooners, Four Cowboys Named Preseason All-Big 12

The media picks for Preseason All-Big 12 were announced today resulting in five Sooners and four Cowboys listed among the conference’s best players at their respective positions.

Thursday, July 16th 2015, 6:32 pm

By: News 9


The media picks for Preseason All-Big 12 were announced today resulting in five Sooners and four Cowboys listed among the conference’s best players at their respective positions.

Running back Samaje Perine, receiver Sterling Shepard, kick returner Alex Ross, linebacker Eric Striker and defensive back Zack Sanchez represented OU on the All-Big 12 team while defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, linebacker Ryan Simmons and defensive back Kevin Peterson feature from OSU. Incoming Oklahoma State running back Chris Carson was picked Newcomer of the Year, the second-consecutive running back OSU transfer to receive the designation after Tyreek Hill last year.

Oklahoma

Perine led the Big 12 in rushing last season, totaling 1,713 yards, which placed him fifth on the OU all-time single-season rushing chart. The freshman also scored 21 touchdowns, a Big 12 record for rushing touchdowns in a season by a freshman. Perine received All-Big 12 First Team honors by the coaches and media and was named Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and AP Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year status. The Football Writers of America named him to the Freshman All-America Team, while the AP named him a Third-Team All-American.

Shepard was named an All-Big 12 First Team honoree last season for the first time in his career. The standout wide receiver racked up 970 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 51 catches in 2014, despite being hampered the last six games with an injury that limited his production. Despite the missed time, Shepard ranked sixth in the Big 12 in receiving yards per game (80.8 avg.) and eighth in receiving yards while leading the Sooners in every major receiving statistic.

Ross emerged last season as one of the most dynamic return men in the game. He tallied 718 kick return yards and two touchdowns on 23 attempts for an average of 31.2 yards per return. His two kick returns for touchdowns tied for second in the country, while his average was good for third in the nation. A 2014 Second-Team All-American kick returner by CBS Sports and the Sporting News, Ross is the only player in Oklahoma history to have three kick returns of at least 80 yards in his career.

A unanimous All-Big 12 First-Team selection in 2014, Striker posted a team-high 17.0 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks to go along with 68 tackles, five pass breakups and two fumble recoveries a year ago. With 15.5 career sacks, Striker has more than any linebacker in OU history. He was named a Second-Team All-American by SI.com and a Third-Team All-American by the AP.

Like Striker, Sanchez was also placed on the All-Big 12 First Team by the coaches and media last season. Sanchez led the team with six interceptions, eight pass breakups and 14 passes defended, adding 43 tackles, including one tackle for loss. His six interceptions ranked second in the Big 12 and 13th nationally. Sanchez was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, and this season he has been placed on watch lists for the Bednarik, Nagurski and Thorpe Awards.

Oklahoma State

Ogbah is coming off a breakout season, and was recently named to the watch lists for the Rotary Lombardi Award, Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy. In 2014, he became the first OSU player recognized as Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year, was a first-team all-Big 12 honoree by the Associated Press and the coaches and was chosen as the team's 2014 defensive MVP by the OSU coaches.

Ogbah, a junior out of Houston, finished the season third in the Big 12 and 24th nationally in tackles for loss per game (1.3) and second in the Big 12 and 15th nationally in sacks per game (0.85). He recorded 5.5 tackles for loss in the Cowboys' win at Kansas, which set an OSU single-game record and was the most tackles for any player in the country in a single game last season. He also enjoyed a breakthrough performance on a national stage to open 2014 when he had six tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and two pass-breakups against top-ranked Florida State. The athletic defensive end produced a stretch last season where he recorded at least one sack in six consecutive games.

Simmons, a three-year letterman at linebacker and a Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List member, has 26 starts to his credit heading into his senior season, and will enter 2015 with the most career tackles among all returning OSU players at 189. Included in that total are 25.5 tackles for loss, which also leads the team. He made 96 tackles and had 12.0 for loss last season.

Simmons ranked eighth in the Big 12 with an average of 5.1 solo tackles per game and 13th in the league with 7.4 total tackles per game. Against Baylor, Simmons tallied a season-best 13 tackles, and he added two tackles for loss against both TCU and Texas. OSU's coaches named him the recipient of the team's Vernon Grant Award for spirit and enthusiasm.
 
Peterson is a veteran of 25 starts at cornerback, and led OSU with 13 passes defended in 2014. The Wagoner, Okla., native racked up 59 total tackles, including a career-high 11 tackles at Baylor. He also broke up a career-best three passes in the win over Texas Tech.  His top performance of the year came against West Virginia, where he limited the nation's leading receiver, Kevin White, to three catches for 27 yards. He recorded two interception on the year, the second of which sealed the Cowboys win over Washington in the Cactus Bowl.
 
Carson rushed for 994 yards and nine touchdowns for Butler CC last season, and was the fourth ranked junior college running back prospect in the country according to 247Sports. His average of 7.2 yards per carry ranked fifth among all junior college players nationwide. The Lilburn, Ga., product tallied five 100-yard games in 2014, including a 183-yard outing against Ellsworth in the season finale. A receiving threat out of the backfield as well, Carson caught 19 passes for 157 yards in his Butler career.

Preseason All-Big 12

Offensive Player of the Year – Trevone Boykin, QB, TCU

Defensive Player of the Year – Shawn Oakman, DE, Baylor

Newcomer of the Year – Chris Carson, RB, Oklahoma State

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