Big 12’s offensive, defensive players of the year face off in title game

Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II, the nation’s leading rusher, was named the Big 12’s offensive player of the year Wednesday after a vote of the league’s 14 coaches.

The coaches also chose Texas defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat as the conference’s top defensive player.

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Gordon and Sweat will be on opposite sides Saturday when the seventh-ranked Longhorns play the No. 19 Cowboys in the Big 12 championship game.

Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy was picked as the coach of the year after the Cowboys (9-3) won seven of their last eight games to get to their second Big 12 title game in three seasons.

Gordon is averaging 131.7 yards per game this season. He’s also averaging 163.0 YPG in Big 12 games since going for only 109 yards combined in the three games before that.

He also has 20 rushing touchdowns, which ranks second nationally to Michigan’s Blake Corum, who has 22.

Sweat, a super senior and finalist for the Outland Trophy, set career highs with 40 tackles, 16 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and four pass breakups. He also had a blocked extra point that the Longhorns returned for two points against Iowa State.

The AP will release its All-Big 12 picks on Dec. 8.

Reporting by The Associated Press.