Week 8 Big 12 Football Players of the Week Announced
With Week 8 of the college football season officially in the books, the Big 12 Conference announced four players that would be taking home the eighth iteration of the Big 12 Football Weekly Awards for the 2023 season.
Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon won the Offensive Player of the Week title while in-state rival Oklahoma wide receiver Nic Anderson took home Newcomer of the Week honors. BYU’s Eddie Heckard claimed Defensive Player of the Week honors, and Baylor kicker Isaiah Hankins was selected as the Special Teams Player of the Week.
Gordon earned the title of the Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Cowboys to a 48-34 win over West Virginia on Saturday. Gordon was unstoppable in Week 8 rushing for career-highs in both rushing yards with 282 yards and in touchdowns with four scores on the day. The sophomore running back’s career day set the bar high as the most rushing yards for an FBS player in a game this season and became the most yards by a Cowboys running back since All-American Chuba Hubbard put up 296 yards against Kansas State back in 2019. Gordon earned OPOY honors for the second straight week after splitting the title with TCU’s Josh Hoover in Week 7.
BYU’s senior defensive back Eddie Heckard was all over the field on Saturday, leading the team in takeaways with two turnovers forced in the Cougars’ Week 8 win over Texas Tech. The Nevada native recovered a fumble in the end zone for the second score of the day and recorded an interception in the red zone to stop Jake Strong and the Texas Tech offense from finding pay dirt.
Oklahoma receiver Nic Anderson earned his second Newcomer of the Week Award in Saturday’s 31-29 win over UCF bringing in five catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns on the day. The redshirt freshman has eight touchdown catches this season on a mere 16 total receptions which is the highest catch to touchdown catch ratio in all of college football. Anderson ranks second in the nation this season with 24.2 yards per catch while leading the Big 12 Conference with eight touchdown catches this season, according to the official release.
Baylor kicker Isaiah Hankins had an impressive day against the Cincinnati Bearcats by going 4-of-4 on field goal attempts and 2-2 on extra points in the Bears’ 32-29 win on Saturday afternoon. Hankins slammed a new career long of 54 yards and was good from 43, 46, and 43 yards out on the day. The Arkansas native became the ninth kicker in program history to make four field goals in one game, which tied Baylor’s all-time record to secure himself the title of Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week.
Last Week’s Winners:
Offense: Josh Hoover, TCU, QB, Fr. and Ollie Gordon II, OSU, RB, So.
Defense: Kobe Savage, K-State, S, Sr.
Newcomer: Avery Johnson, K-State, QB, Fr.
Special Teams: Chase Contreraz, ISU, K, Sr.
