AP All-Big 12 Honors Announced

NORMAN, Okla. – Four members of the University of Oklahoma football team were named Associated Press All-Big 12, and freshman linebacker Dominique Alexander was named the Defensive Newcomer of the Year on Monday.

Senior center Gabe Ikard and senior cornerback Aaron Colvin were named named All-Big 12 First Team, while sophomore defensive lineman Charles Tapper and junior placekicker Michael Hunnicutt were given second-team recognition.

A team captain at center, Ikard makes the protection calls for an Oklahoma rushing offense that ranks second in the Big 12 and 18th in the nation averaging 235.8 ypg. The senior has not permitted a sack this season and leads the team in knockdown blocks per game. Ikard has garnered numerous honors this season, including one of 16 winners of the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award and as the Capital One Division I Football Academic All-America of the Year. He's also a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, a Senior CLASS Award finalist, and a midseason first-team All-American by CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.

Colvin has fought through injury for the Sooners and is ranked fifth on the team with 49 total tackles in 10 games this year. A team captain, Colvin was named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and leads a defense that is first in the Big 12 in total defense (336.3 ypg) and pass defense (198.0 ypg). Against Kansas, Colvin had a team-high eight tackles with 1.5 TFL while also returning a blocked PAT 98 yards for a two-point conversion.

Tapper has played in every game this season, including the first 11 starts of his career. A converted basketball phenom who started playing organized football in just his junior year of high school, Tapper has harassed opposing backfields all season, totaling 9.0 TFL, 5.5 sacks and eight quarterback hurries on his way to 47 total tackles. At Kansas, Tapper had a career-high six tackles, 3.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks in the Sooner win, in addition to making a key sack last week at Oklahoma State with seconds remaining in the contest to seal the 33-24 win for OU.

A semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award and a midseason All-America pick by Sports Illustrated and CBSSports.com, Hunnicutt is the all-time leader at OU in field goals made in a career (61) and in a season (23). With 342 points, Hunnicutt is tied for second all-time in career scoring at OU. The junior is coming off his first Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week award after kicking two field goals, two PATs and recording an 8-yard touchdown reception on a fake field goal play last Saturday in OU's 33-24 victory at Oklahoma State.

Alexander is tied for second on the team in tackles despite filling in as a starter only midway through the season. In his first career start, Alexander led OU with 19 tackles (13 solo) and 1.0 TFL vs. Texas, the highest tackle total by a Sooner since Travis Lewis and 19 against Texas in 2008. All told, Alexander has four double-digit tackle games and is ranked 14th in the league with 75 total tackles – no other freshman in the league is in ranked in the top 50.

The 2013 Associated Press All-Big 12 team is selected by a panel of 20 sports writers who regularly cover the Big 12 for newspapers throughout the league's five states.