Sooners Picked To Win Big 12 South

July 23, 2002

Norman, Okla. - Oklahoma is the media's pick to win the 2002 Big 12 South Conference championship. That announcement came Monday. OU's Tommie Harris was selected the league's preseason defensive player of the year, while Sooner linebacker Lance Mitchell was tabbed the top newcomer.

Four other Oklahoma players captured preseason all-conference honors. Trent Smith was the pick at tight end, while linebacker Teddy Lehman, defensive back Andre Woolfolk and defensive back Derrick Strait were selected on defense.

The voters from all seven states in the Big 12 coverage area also selected Texas Tech senior quarterback Kliff Kingsbury of New Braunfels, Texas, as the 2002 Offensive Player of the Year.

Last year's pre-Big 12 Football Media Days survey chose Nebraska (the 2001 North Division co-champion with Colorado at 7-1) and Oklahoma, which finished one game behind Texas in final standings in the South. The media made three prophetic choices in pre-2001 Offensive Player of the Year and eventual Heisman Trophy winner QB Eric Crouch of Nebraska, consensus All-America and Butkus Trophy winner LB Rocky Calmus of Oklahoma as Defensive Player of the Year and Texas freshman RB Cedric Benson as Newcomer of the Year.

Several individual standouts from the preseason 2001 All-Big 12 squad are in the 2002 mix, and among the prominent names are Texas WR Roy. Williams, Texas A&M DL Ty Warren, Nebraska rush end Chris Kelsay, and Texas DE Cory Redding. Last July's selections were dominated by seniors as 10 members of the offense completed their eligibility and nine defenders were in their final college seasons.

Kingsbury paced the upcoming offensive unit with 752-for-1,171 career passing for 7,412 yards, 50 touchdowns, and a 64.2 percent completion rate. He ranks among the Top Five nationally among returning players in completions, yards and touchdowns.

The preseason wide receivers' corps (there was a tie in the voting) features Williams, Oklahoma State's Rashaun Woods and Missouri's two-sport (football-basketball star) Justin Gage. That trio combined for 221 receptions, 2,779 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2001 as the top 2-3-4 combination in Big 12 final statistics in history.

Nebraska All-America candidate RB Dahrran Diedrick joins Texas' Benson as the two running backs on the 2002 preseason edition. Diedrick led the Big 12 with 1,299 rushing yards on 233 carries with 15 touchdowns as a junior.

Defensively, the preseason squad reads like a coaches' fantasy crew as Kelsay, Redding and Warren were accompanied by the likes of Lehman, Texas Tech LB Lawrence Flugence (the Big 12's leading tackler last season with 154), Texas A&M DB Sammy Davis (five interceptions), Kansas State pre-2002 All-America DB Terence Newman, and Colorado punter Mark Mariscal, among others.

Luke Phillips of Oklahoma State was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist last season and is the preseason media choice at kicker.

2002 Big 12 Conference Football Preseason Media Poll

Division Finishes (points were awarded six for first, five for second, etc.)

North
Colorado - 121
Nebraska - 104
Kansas State - 95
Iowa State - 61
Missouri - 43
Kansas - 26

South
Oklahoma - 124
Texas - 117
Texas Tech - 79
Texas A&M - 71
Oklahoma State - 46
Baylor - 23

2002 Preseason Media All-Big 12 Football Teams

Offense
WR - Justin Gage, Missouri, 6-4, 210, Sr., Jefferson City, Mo.
(tie) WR - Rashaun Woods, Oklahoma State, 6-2, 190, Jr., Oklahoma City, Okla.
TE - Trent Smith, Oklahoma, 6-5, 230, Sr., Clinton, Okla.
OL - Justin Bates, Colorado, 6-4, 295, Sr., Arvada, Colo.
OL - Nick Leckey, Kansas State, 6-4, 285, Jr., Grapevine, Texas
C - Wayne Lucier, Colorado, 6-4, 295, Sr., Salem, N.H.
OL - Derrick Dockery, Texas, 6-6, 345, Sr., Garland, Texas
OL - Rex Richards, Texas Tech, 6-4, 315, Sr., Midland, Texas
WR - Roy. Williams, Texas, 6-4, 210, Jr., Odessa, Texas
QB - Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech, 6-4, 208, Sr., New Braunfels, Texas
RB - Dahrran Diedrick, Nebraska, 6-0, 225, Sr., Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
RB - Cedric Benson, Texas, 6-0, 205, So., Midland, Texas
PK - Luke Phillips, Oklahoma State, 6-0, 165, Jr., Tulsa, Okla.

Defense
DL/OLB - Chris Kelsay, Nebraska, 6-5, 255, Sr., Auburn, Neb.
DL - Tommie Harris, Oklahoma, 6-3, 280, So., Killeen, Texas
DL - Ty Warren, Texas A&M, 6-4, 295, Sr., Bryan, Texas
DL - Aaron Hunt, Texas Tech, 6-4, 258, Sr., Denison, Texas
DL/OLB - Cory Redding, Texas, 6-5, 265, Sr., Houston, Texas
LB - Teddy Lehman, Oklahoma, 6-2, 235, Sr., Fort Gibson, Okla.
LB - Lawrence Flugence, Texas Tech, 6-2, 235, Sr., Klein, Texas
DB - Terence Newman, Kansas State, 5-11, 185, Sr., Salina, Kan.
DB - Derrick Strait, Oklahoma, 5-11, 194, Jr., Austin, Texas
DB - Andre Woolfolk, Oklahoma, 6-1, 195, Sr., Denver, Colo.
DB - Sammy Davis, Texas A&M, 6-0, 183, Sr., Humble, Texas
P - Mark Mariscal, Colorado, 6-2, 190, Sr., Tallahassee, Fla.

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year - Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year - Tommie Harris, Oklahoma
Preseason Newcomer of the Year - Lance Mitchell, LB, Oklahoma, 6-2, 250, Jr., Los Banos, Calif.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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