Hubbard gets preseason nod

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Hubbard gets preseason nod

Sat, 07/18/2020 - 14:16
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Chuba Hubbard, the reigning Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year -- as voted on by coaches in 2019, was named the AllBig 12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year on Thursas voted the media.

Hubbard is the country’s reigning rushing leader, churning out 2,094 yards last season -- though it wasn’t enough to earn him the Doak Walker Award given out to the country’s best running back. He finished the season with 21 rushing touchdowns, and saw an increase in the passing game late in the year to finish with 23 catches for 198 yards.

Hubbard, who was a Doak Walker finalist last year, was recently named to the award’s preseason watch list.

The Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, native was also one of just four unanimous selections to the All-12 Football Team.

Oklahoma State was the only program to have two players receive such as a status by the voting media.

Wide receiver Tylan Wallace was also a unanimous selection coming off an injury-shortened season.

Despite missing the final five games of the season, Wallace still led the Cowboys in receiving by nearly double over his teammate Dillon Stoner, who filled in as the main receiving threat during Wallace’s absence.

Wallace had 53 catches for 903 yards and eight touchdowns, as he was on pace to becoming a Biletnikoff Award finalist for a second-straight year — and was named to the preseason watch list for the award Thursday.

Despite playing in just three-fourths of the season, Wallace finished the year with the fourth-most receiving yards in the country’s top passing conference. His 100.3 yards per game is the top among returning receivers, and his 17 yards per catch was second among receivers with at least 50 catches in the conference — behind only Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb (21.4 per catch), who was a first-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the recent NFL Draft.

Hubbard and Wallace weren’t alone on the All-Big 12 Offensive Team.

Senior offensive lineman Teven Jenkins received the honor, as well, as one of the top five offensive linemen in the league after being an honorable mention by the coaches the past two seasons.

Jenkins started in each of the 12 games he played last season, getting nine starts at right tackle and three at left tackle on an offensive line that ranked in the top 25 nationally in rushing offense, total offense and red zone offense.

The Cowboys had just one student-athlete on the defensive side of the ball.

Safety Kolby Harvell-Peel was voted as one of the five defensive backs on the list.

Harvell-Peel was third on the team in tackles last year with 71, but his biggest contribution came in the passing game.

His five interceptions were third in the league a year ago, but his 13 pass breakups brought his total of passes defended to 18 -- three better than any other player in the Big 12 Conference. Harvell-Peel also had one sack, one quarterback hurry, two forced fumbles and two recoveries in 2019.

Perhaps the biggest omission from the Pokes was linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga

The redshirt senior linebacker from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, had the fifthmost solo tackles (63) in the league last year — behind returners Garrett Wallow of TCU and Texas Tech’s Jordyn Brooks, who were named to the preseason list -- and sixth in total tackles (100). He is also tied for the second-most sacks (5) among returning linebackers -- behind Iowa State’s O’Rien Vance.

Aside from Wallow and Brooks, Texas’ Joseph Ossai was also named to the AllBig 12 team as a linebacker. Ossai had fewer tackles than Ogbongbemiga last year and matched him in sacks — finishing with one more interception than the Cowboy linebacker — and his 13.5 tackles for a loss were two behind that of Ogbongbemiga.