IRVING, Texas – Kansas’ Devin Neal (offensive), Arizona State’s Javan Robinson (defensive), Oklahoma State’s Maealiuaki Smith (newcomer) and West Virginia’s Oliver Straw (special teams) were selected as the Big 12’s weekly football award winners.
Neal was dominant in KU’s 37-21 win over then-No. 16 Colorado with 207 rushing yards, 80 receiving yards and four touchdowns. His 37 carries were a career high as the senior eclipsed the 200-yard mark on the ground for the second time in his career and matched his career best with four touchdowns. Neal’s 287 all-purpose yards were the third-most by a Power Four running back this season, adding to his storied season that saw the Lawrence, Kansas native become the program’s career rushing leader.
With a game-clinching interception against then-No. 14 BYU, Robinson helped put the finishing touches on Arizona State’s 28-23 win. The Sun Devil defensive back intercepted Jake Retzlaff with just over a minute on the clock and returned the pick 64 yards deep into BYU territory before going on to defend the Cougars’ final play of the game. He also registered five tackles in the victory that put ASU in a tie for first place in the Big 12 standings and secured the Sun Devils’ first undefeated season at home in 20 years.
Smith completed 74.3% of his 35 pass attempts for 316 yards and two touchdowns in his collegiate debut for the Cowboys. The true freshman also recorded a 13-yard touchdown run as all three of his scores came in the second half of the high-scoring affair. Smith became the fifth true freshman in FBS to throw for 300 yards in a game this season as his 316 passing yards were the second-most by an Oklahoma State player in their first career start.
Booting four punts for 200 yards, Straw had a career day for the Mountaineers. His best punt of the day was 57 yards, which was his longest of the year. His other kicks went for 54, 49 and 40 yards with two punts downed inside the 20-yard line. For the season, Straw has punted a total of 31 times with only one touchback.