Jones, Fleming should ask for an All-Big 12 revote
Published: 11/30/2010 11:17 PM
Last Modified: 11/30/2010 11:17 PM
Someone asked Bob Stoops about the coaches' All-Big 12 teams that were revealed Tuesday.
"I'm really happy for the guys that made it," he began. "I'm always surprised at some that don't make it. Not to take anything away from other players in the league. It's always difficult.
"I find it odd that the voting was done before our Oklahoma State game, one of the more important games of the year. That all of the votes are in before that game doesn't seem to be right."
There we go. Stoops played it right down the middle for starters, then veered into the heart of the matter: How was Landry Jones on the third team offense? How was a guy who tied Sam Bradford's single-game passing record in Oklahoma's biggest game of the year slotted below both Brandon Weeden and Robert Griffin?
Weeden put together a terrific 12-game resume. The man leads the Big 12 in passing yardage, passing efficiency and total offense. Justin Blackmon may be the conference offensive player of the year, but Weeden (along with Dana Holgorsen) sure made it easy for him. He is a worthy choice for the first team.
Now for a little secret: Jones was the better quarterback, statistically speaking, in conference play.
He had more completions, 239-214. He had fewer interceptions, 7 to Weeden's 9. His completion percentage was higher, if barely. His yardage total was higher, also barely (2726-2711). His touchdown total was much higher, 25-16.
Griffin trailed both quarterbacks in everything but rushing yardage. And while there is no doubt that Griffin was more valuable to Baylor than Jones and Weeden were to their teams, it's also true that Jones' and Weeden's teams kept thriving while Griffin's faded down the stretch.
Jones and Weeden both KO'd Griffin in head-to-head meetings the last three weeks of the season. Then Jones, thanks to a big finish, outgunned Weeden last Saturday night in Stillwater.
Thus Stoops' reference to ballots being cast before Bedlam.
The worst OU oversight among the coaches' All-Big 12 team was sliding Jamell Fleming all the way down to honorable mention. The junior cornerback led the league in passes defended and tied for third with four interceptions, and yet coaches somehow came up with 11 – 11! – better defensive backs for their first and second team defenses.
Jones' drop to the third team wasn't as egregious. But still, you wonder where he'd have finished had votes been cast Sunday morning instead of last week.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
