2006 Big 12 Surprises, Disappointments, MVPs

2006 Big 12 Surprises, Disappointments, Bests & MVPs

CFN 2006 All-Big 12 Team and Top 30 Players
 
Coach of the Year – Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Baylor's Guy Morriss, Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy and Kansas State's Ron Prince all deserve mention, but Stoops overcame the loss of Adrian Peterson to lead the team through the loss to Texas, through the Oregon fiasco, and to the Big 12 championship. Fine, so he whined a bit too much about getting hosed in the loss to the Ducks, and you could argue that Peterson didn't need to get so much work with Allen Patrick and Chris Brown later proving to be capable backs, but he provided the confidence and attitude needed evidenced most by the fourth and one call deep in OU territory to seal the win against Texas A&M.

Worst Coaching Job of the Year – Dan Hawkins, Colorado
You could make a very strong case for Mack Brown of Texas for losing three games with one of the nation's most talented teams, and it's really not fair to rip too much on Hawkins considering he has to tear the team down to rebuild it back up, but the defending Big 12 North champs went 2-10 including losses to Montana State and an awful Colorado State team. The offense never got on track while the defense was inconsistent.

Best Performance of the Season - Oklahoma State QB Bobby Reid completed 23 of 35 passes for 411 yards and five touchdowns and ran 14 times for 46 yards and a score in the 42-32 win over Kansas. WR Adarius Bowman caught 13 passes for 300 yards and four touchdowns.

Top Freshman – Texas QB Colt McCoy
Remember when it was a battle between McCoy and Jevan Snead for the starting job? McCoy came through better than anyone could've ever dreamed. Kansas State RB Leon Patton and QB Josh Freeman certainly look like keepers, as does Texas A&M RB Mike Goodson and Baylor LB Joe Pawelek.

Most Disappointing Player – Texas RB Jamaal Charles
Even though he finished the year as the Big 12's second leading rusher and scored four touchdowns over the final three games, he only ran for 805 yards and didn't make the leap up in overall production after getting more work. His only 100-yard day of the season came early against Rice.

Biggest Surprise – Kansas State
Oklahoma State's strong season was certainly a bit of a shocker, but head coach Ron Prince inherited a program in need of revamping and got it to a bowl game despite lthe growing pains of freshman QB Josh Freeman along with several defensive replacements.

Biggest Disappointment – Colorado
This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, but the first season under Dan Hawkins showed just how far the program has to go to get back to a title level. Hawkins will get them there eventually, but it's not going to be an overnight fix..

Best Game of the Big 12 Season 
Kansas State 45 ... Texas 42
Kansas State jumped on Texas mistakes for a big third quarter run breaking a 21-21 tie with a 21-point run as RB Leon Patton threw a 18-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Wilson and Josh Freeman hit Yamon Figurs for a 30-yard score and ran for a one-yard touchdown. Texas mounted a huge comeback with an amazing four-play, 75-yard drive with an 18-yard Jamaal Charles touchdown run to spark a big run with Limas Sweed catching a 33-yard touchdown pass and Chris Ogbonnaya running for a score from one-yard out, but a line drive 51-yard Jeff Snodgrass field goal kept KSU ahead. The Wildcats pounced on the onside kick after the Ogbonnaya touchdown and were able to run out the clock. Longhorn QB Colt McCoy was knocked out of the game early with a neck injury after running for a one-yard score.
Second Best Game – Texas 22 ... at Nebraska 20, Oct. 21
Third Best Game – Oklahoma State 42 ... Kansas 32, Oct. 14

Worst Game of the Big 12 Season 
Kansas 41 ... Iowa State 10
Kansas took four Iowa State turnovers converting them into 20 points while Kerry Meier threw two touchdown passes and Todd Reesing ran for a score and throwing for a touchdown. Derek Fine caught two touchdown passes, but the big score came from a 50-yard Brian Murph scoring pass for an early 7-3 lead. Iowa State started off the scoring on a 36-yard Bret Culbertson field goal and ended it with a one-yard Ryan Kock touchdown run to stop a 41-point KU run. The Cyclones only managed 213 yards of total offense.
 
Team MVPs   
North
Colorado – PK Mason Crosby, DE Abraham Wright
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 8-4, final regular season record: 2-10

Iowa State – QB Bret Meyer, LB Alvin Bowen
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 8-4, final regular season record: 4-8

Kansas – RB Jon Cornish, CB Agib Talib
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 6-6, final regular season record: 6-6

Kansas State – QB Josh Freeman, DE Ian Campbell
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 4-8, final regular season record: 7-5

Missouri – QB Chase Daniel, S David Overstreet
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 7-5, final regular season record: 8-4

Nebraska – QB Zac Taylor, DE Adam Carriker
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 9-3, final regular season record: 9-4

South
Baylor – QB Shawn Bell, LB Joe Pawelek, P Daniel Sepulveda
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 4-8, final regular season record: 4-8

Oklahoma – QB Paul Thompson, LB Rufus Alexander
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 10-2, final regular season record: 11-2

Oklahoma State – QB Bobby Reid, DE Victor DeGrate
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 4-8, final regular season record: 6-6

Texas – QB Colt McCoy, CB Aaron Ross
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 11-1, final regular season record: 9-3

Texas A&M – SS Melvin Bullitt, QB Stephen McGee
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 8-4, final regular season record: 9-3

Texas Tech – WR Joel Filani, DE Keyunta Dawson
CFN Preview 2006 predicted record: 9-3, final regular season record: 7-5

CFN 2006 All-Big 12 Team and Top 30 Players