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Dallas, Texas -- For the first time in history, there are Co-Offensive Players of the Year in coaches' balloting for Big 12 Conference Southwestern Bell football players and coach of the year laurels.
Saturday's announcement of the top players and outstanding coach in 1999 for the Big 12 includes a tie for Offensive Players of the Year between quarterbacks Eric Crouch of Nebraska and Major Applewhite of Texas, Defensive Player of the Year LB Mark Simoneau of Kansas State, Coach of the Year Frank Solich of Nebraska, Offensive Newcomer of the Year QB Josh Heupel of Oklahoma, Defensive Newcomer of the Year DT Mario Fatafehi of Kansas State, Offensive Freshman of the Year RB Shaud Williams of Texas Tech, and Defensive Freshman of the Year DT Cory Redding of Teaxs.
The Co-Offensive standouts have a bit of added drama Saturday when they meet in the fourth annual Big 12 Dr Pepper Football Championship at San Antonio's Alamodome before an anticipated sellout crowd (65,000-plus) at 2:30 p.m. (CST) on ABC Sports in a national telecast.
Crouch had a trio of 100-yards-plus rushing performances against Texas A&M, Kansas State and Colorado when the season was on the line for the Huskers. He helped Nebraska erase a 30-27 deficit in overtime at Colorado with a one-yard plunge to give the Huskers a 33-30 win, a tie for the Big 12 North Division top spot with Kansas State, and record of 10-1 entering the Big 12 title contest. Crouch led all Big 12 quarterbacks in rushing with 157 carries for 817 yards and 14 TDs on the ground (tied for most in the league with Iowa State RB Darren Davis). The Huskers' QB of Omaha, Neb., also caught a TD pass, led the Huskers with 15 total touchdowns and 90 points, was 77-for-146 passing for 1,214 yards, seven TDs, and three interceptions, and was at or near the top of the Big 12 throughout the year in passing efficiency after taking over as fulltime starting quarterback.
Applewhite broke or tied 28 Texas game, season and career records at Texas prior to the Dr Pepper Football Championship and helped the Longhorns capture the South Division crown for the second time since 1996. The UT star from Baton Rouge, La., ended the year with 256-for-425 passing totals for 3,185 yards, 21 touchdowns, six interceptions, 60.2 percent accuracy, and Top 25 national ratings in both total offense and passing efficiency.
Solich, who is in his second year as head coach of the Huskers, led Nebraska to a 10-1 record prior to the Big 12 Dr Pepper Championship Game and has kept alive a NCAA record streak of 31 consecutive seasons with nine victories with a 9-4 overall mark in his first season and 7-1 Big 12 worksheets in '99. An assistant to National Football Foundation Hall of Fame member Tom Osborne from 1979-97, Solich replaced Dr. Osborne after the 1997 campaign and has kept the Nebraska ship sailing toward national championship contention. The Huskers' only defeat in their first 11 games in '99 was to title game competitor Texas 24-20 at Austin, and Nebraska snapped a Big 12-record 21-conference-game winning streak by Kansas State with a 41-15 win over the Wildcats this year at Lincoln. That was the tiebreaking factor in NU's drive to a spot in the championship contest-its third in four years.
Simoneau helped make up for the loss of most of the Wildcats' 1998 starting lineup for the 1999 season as his defensive efforts helped KSU post another 10-win (10-1) season with a chance for an at-large position in the Bowl Championship Series. The senior standout from Smith Center, Kan., was K-State's leading tackler with 87 total tackles, 17 tackles for losses (-93 yards), 11 quarterback sacks, two fumbles caused, and two pass interceptions with 61 yards in returns. Simoneau's leadership helped Kansas State to lead the nation in pass defense efficiency with a 65.7 rating while KSU also allowed a Big 12-fewest 235 yards per game of total offense and gave up a conference-co-low 13.1 points per game along with Nebraska.
Fatafehi came to Kansas State from Snow (Utah) College via Honolulu, Hawai'i, and had an immediate impact in shutting down Wildcats' opponents' running games. He was part of a defensive effort that permitted KSU foes just 111 net yards per game and helped produce the No.1 pass defense nationally (65.7 defensive efficiency rating) with 37.5 percent completion average by foes, five TD passes, and 21 interceptions by KSU, thanks to a solid pass rush supplied by Fatahefi and teammates.
Williams stepped in for injured Heisman Trophy candidate Ricky Williams and ended with 112 carries for 658 yards, 5.9 yards per carry, seven touchdowns, and 65.8 yards rushing per game for ninth among Big 12 individual rushers. The Andrews, Texas, resident set a freshman record and was Big 12 Southwestern Bell Offensive Player of the Week for his 230-yard rushing showing (21 carries) against Colorado.
Redding, another true freshman from Houston, Texas, jumped into the fray for coach Mack Brown's 9-3 Longhorns with 26 total tackles and two quarterback sacks from his defensive end post. He also was second on the UT squad with 12 stops on special teams and helped Texas make a strong move in the area of defense against the run from previous seasons. Texas held its first 12 opponents to 95 net yards rushing per game-its best mark since 1990.
1998 Honors-Offensive Player of the Year-Ricky Williams, RB, Texas; Defensive Player-Dat Nguyen, LB, Texas A&M; Coach of the Year-Bill Snyder, Kansas State; Offensive Newcomer of the Year-Mike Moschetti, QB, Colorado; Defensive Newcomer-Jesse Beckom, LB, Iowa State; Offensive Freshman of the Year-Major Applewhite, QB, Texas; Defensive Player-Justin Smith, DE, Missouri.
1997 Honors-Offensive Player of the Year--Ricky Williams, RB, Texas; Defensive Player--Grant Wistrom, Rush End, Nebraska; Coach of the Year--Bob Simmons, Oklahoma State; Offensive Newcomer of the Year--Michael Bishop, QB, Kansas State; Defensive Newcomer--Jeff Kelly, LB, Kansas State; Offensive Freshman of the Year--Tony Lindsay, QB, Oklahoma State; Defensive Freshman of the Year--Ben Kelly, DB-KR, Colorado.
1996 Honors-Offensive Player of the Year-Troy Davis, RB, Iowa State; Defensive Player--Grant Wistrom, Rush End, Nebraska; Coach of the Year-Spike Dykes, Texas Tech; Offensive Newcomer of the Year-Scott Frost, QB, Nebraska; Defensive Newcomer-Gana Joseph, DB, Oklahoma; Offensive Freshman of the Year-De'Mond Parker, RB, Oklahoma; Defensive Freshman of the Year-Mark Simoneau, LB, Kansas State.