Hurts, Murray rate individual recognitions

If the media pundits are correct, Oklahoma should be in great shape for a run at a fifth consecutive Big 12 Conference football title.

Six Sooners were picked on the Preseason All-Big 12 team and OU linebacker Kenneth Murray was chosen as the “defensive player of the year” in the conference.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts, a graduate transfer from Alabama, was selected as “newcomer of the year” in the Big 12.

Along with Murray and Hurts, OU running back Kennedy Brooks, tight end Grant Calcaterra and center Creed Humphrey were All-Big 12 picks. OU wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was selected as a wide receiver and also as the best kick returner/punt returner in the Big 12.

Murray was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2018. Murray is the conference’s leading returning tackler. He led the Sooners with 155 total tackles in 2018 (OU’s most since 2007), and his 11.1 stops per game ranked him 13th in the nation. He reached double-digit tackles in nine games, including 28 against Army West Point on Sept. 22 for the second-most in school history. Murray has started all 28 games in his collegiate career, compiling 233 tackles and 20.0 tackles for loss.

Brooks was Oklahoma’s leading rusher last season as a redshirt freshman and he earned honorable mention All-Big 12 acclaim last year. The USA Today Freshman All-American rushed for 1,056 yards and 12 touchdowns, ranking fifth in the conference with 88 yards per game. Among players who averaged at least 9.0 carries per game, he ranked third nationally with his 8.0 yards per rush. In the final 10 games, he got at least 100 yards five times and accumulated 11 TDs. Brooks ran for a career-high 182 yards in the regular season finale at West Virginia and scored three TDs with yards on the ground against Oklahoma State.

Lamb got honorable mention recognition last year. He accumulated 1,158 yards and 11 touchdowns on 65 receptions as a sophomore last year. He had five 100-yard receiving games and caught at least one touchdown pass in seven straight contests from Sept. 8 through Oct. 27. He racked up a career-high 167 yards and a touchdown on six receptions in a Big 12 Championship victory against Texas. A two-year starter, Lamb has compiled 1,965 yards on 111 career receptions. He already ranks 10th in school history with 18 TD receptions and needs eight more to move into the top three.

Calcaterra was an All-Big 12 First Team honoree by the league’s coaches and the media in 2018 after starting in 11 of 14 games and getting 26 receptions for 396 yards and six touchdowns. He made two TD catches in the Big 12 Championship. He has 36 receptions for 558 yards and nine touchdowns in his first two seasons in Norman.

As a redshirt freshman in 2018, Humphrey started 12 of 14 games and earned freshman All-America honors by the FWAA and The Athletic.

An All-Big 12 honorable mention choice by the league’s coaches and a second-team selection by media, he played center on the OU offensive line unit that won the Joe Moore Award. He is the Sooners’ lone returning starter up front.

A graduate transfer from Alabama, Hurts helped the Crimson Tide to a 41-3 record (26-2 as a starter) in his three years in Tuscaloosa. He played in six College Football Playoff games and started all 14 contests in 2017 when UA won a national title. He compiled 5,626 yards and 48 touchdowns passing at Alabama, as well as 1,976 yards with 23 touchdowns on the ground. Hurts owns the UA quarterback career record with those 23 rushing scores, and ranks second among QBs in career rushing yards and touchdowns responsible for (71).

Oklahoma State has running back Chuba Hubbard, wide receiver Tylan Wallace and defensive back A.J. Green picked for the all-conference preseason squad.

Wallace is a first-team All-America selection and Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2018. As a sophomore last year, he ranked second in the FBS with 1,491 receiving yards and was third nationally with 114.7 receiving yards per game. He made 10 catches for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Cowboys’ win over No. 6 Texas and 10 catches for 220 yards at No. 6 Oklahoma.

Hubbard is one of five finalists for the Cornish Trophy presented to the top Canadian student-athlete in NCAA football in 2018. Hubbard took over as starting running back when Justice Hill was lost for the season. In his four games as the featured back (at No. 6 Oklahoma, vs. No. 7 West Virginia, at TCU and vs. No. 23 Missouri), he averaged 106.3 rushing yards per contest and 5.4 yards per carry. His nine total touchdowns during the 2018 season were the most for a Cowboy freshman during the Mike Gundy era (2005-present) and were the most for any OSU freshman since Donovan Woods had 10 in 2004.

Green was a second-team All-Big 12 honoree in 2018 A starter in each of the last 26 games, he finished among the league leaders with 11 passes broken up. Against Texas, he limited Collin Johnson to five receptions on 13 targets with two passes broken up and against West Virginia, he held David Sills to four receptions on 11 targets with three passes broken up.

Sam Ehlinger of Texas was chosen as the Big 12 preseason quarterback. Texas, TCU and Iowa State each had four players on the team. Kansas, Texas Tech and Baylor each had two players while West Virginia and Kansas State had one apiece.