A plethora of Horned Frogs were honored by the conference Thursday as 15 received all-conference honors along with five first-team selections. TCU topped the conference with five defensive first-team selections, a true testament to the level TCU’s defense has played at all season long.
New to the team and the conference, defensive end Ben Banogu received Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, wide receiver Jalen Raegor earned Co-Offensive Freshman of the year and defensive tackle Ross Blacklock earned Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year.
Banogu also received honorable mention for Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Yea for not letting up and making both the offensive line and quarterback aware of his presence each play. Banogu had a team-high 14 tackles for a loss, good for fourth in the conference. He also recorded seven and a half sacks on the year. Combined with first-team selection Mat Boesen’s conference-leading 11.5 sacks, TCU houses the nation’s top duo in combined sacks.
Banogu, safety Nick Orr, linebacker Travis Howard and cornerback Ranthony Texada highlighted the other four first-team selections on defense for the Frogs.
Howard was an honorable mention for defensive player of the year and earned a first-team selection for the second straight season. Howard tallied 83 tackles this season, including seven tackles for loss, which have him on pace to lead the team in tackles for three consecutive seasons. Howard has recorded 318 tackles during his career at TCU, the most by any Horned Frog under head coach Gary Patterson.
Orr is tied for second on the team with 59 tackles, including three for loss, with two interceptions and five pass breakups.
Texada leads the Frogs for most career starts with 40 in his career. He has recorded 13 pass breakups, good for second in the Big 12. He has two sacks among 26 tackles and an interception.
Starting all 12 games for the Frogs, including 30 consecutive starts, offensive guard Matt Pryor earned second-team All-Big 12.
Another first-team selection for the Frogs on offense was wide receiver and return specialist KaVontae Turpin. Turpin also received honorable mention accolades at wide receiver and special teams player of the year. Turpin is averaging 34.0 yards per kickoff return and 14.1 on punt returns. He had a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown versus Kansas and then a 94-yard kickoff return for a score the following week at Iowa State.
TCU’s six other honorable mention choices were running back Darius Anderson, cornerback Jeff Gladney, tight end Cole Hunt, offensive tackle Joseph Noteboom, center Austin Schlottman and linebacker Ty Summers. Head coach Gary Patterson also received honorable mention for coach of the year.
The heavily-accoladed Horned Frogs will face the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Championship Saturday morning. Kickoff from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington is set for 11:30 a.m.
