Texas leads All-Big 12 squad with nine first-team selections

DALLAS -- Texas quarterback Vince Young and three offensive linemen lead a list of nine Longhorns named first-team selections on the All-Big 12 team picked by league coaches, the conference announced Tuesday.

Young, who has Texas (11-0) one win from playing for the national championship in the Rose Bowl, also was named the offensive player of the year. The Longhorns play Colorado (7-4) in the Big 12 championship Saturday in Houston.

A junior, Young passed for 2,576 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushed for another 793 and eight scores as Texas led the nation in scoring at 49.2 points per game.

Seniors Jonathan Scott and Will Allen and junior Justin Blalock led an offensive line that blocked for an offense that ranked third nationally in total yards.

Texas had five defensive selections -- linemen Rod Wright and Tim Crowder, linebacker Aaron Harris and defensive backs Michael Huff and Cedric Griffin. All but Crowder are seniors.

The Longhorns' Mack Brown was named coach of the year.

Colorado placekicker Mason Crosby, whose 58-yard field goal at Miami tied for the longest in the NCAA this season, was special teams player of the year.

Kansas linebacker Nick Reid was the defensive player of the year. He led the league with 106 tackles.

Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, last year's Big 12 freshman of the year, was one of five first-team selections for the Sooners. The others were fullback J.D. Runnels, offensive lineman Davin Joseph, defensive lineman Dusty Dvoracek and linebacker Rufus Alexander.

Texas had the offensive and defensive freshmen of the year in running back Jamaal Charles and lineman Brian Orakpo.

The offensive newcomer of the year was Texas Tech receiver Robert Johnson, and the defensive newcomer was Oklahoma defensive lineman C.J. Ah You. Both are juniors.