Here are this years Pac-12 Awards...
Freshman Offensive Co-Players of the Year Marqise Lee, WR, USC and De'Anthony Thomas, RB, Oregon
Lee, a true freshman from Inglewood, Calif., has already proved to be one of the biggest offensive threats in the Pac-12 with 73 catches for 1,143 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first season.
He ranks fifth in the Pac-12 with 6.1 receptions per game and 95.2 receiving yards per game. Lee earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after recording 325 all-purpose yards, including a career high 187 receiving yards, in USC's win over Oregon.
I can live with this.
Lee is a monster, Thomas is a playmaker...I have no problem with splitting this award.
Freshman Defensive Player of the Year Dion Bailey, LB, USC
Bailey, a redshirt freshman from Lakewood, Calif., was a standout member of the Trojans defense and tied for the team lead with 81 tackles on the season.
He averaged 7.4 tackles per game to rank sixth in the Pac-12. Bailey had two sacks, two interceptions and one forced fumble.
He had a career-high 14 tackles against Arizona, the most by a USC freshman since Chris Claiborne's 20 in 1996.
Solid Choice!
Bailey really came on strong this year. Can't wait to see what he does going forward.
Coach of the Year David Shaw, Stanford
In his first season at the helm of the Stanford program, Shaw has led the Cardinal to a second-straight 11-1 regular season record, its first back-to-back 10-win seasons in program history.
It is just the fifth 10-win season overall.
Shaw has continued Stanford's recent success as the squad has been ranked in the top-10 of the AP poll for 21 straight weeks.
UNREAL!
While Shaw is the perceived nice guy in the conference with a bit of a pedigree, lets not kid ourselves...Shaw inherited his team. He was the OC when Harbaugh left, Shaw simply moved up the chain.
Lane Kiffin had a much more difficult time in getting USC where it is today. Open transfers, letting recruits out of LOI's, etc. Kiffin did much more with much less. Shaw, has the perceived #1 player in the conference and perceived Heisman winner. Sorry, but I just don't see it. This is another affect of the sanctions.
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Here is how USC fair in the team standings...
All Pac-12 Conference First Team:
Robert Woods - UNANIMOUS SELECTION
Matt Kalil
Nick Perry
T.J. McDonald
Nickell Robey
Andre Heidari
Rhett Ellison
Second Team:
Marqise Lee
Dion Bailey
Matt Barkley
Khaled Holmes
Wes Horton
Honorable Mention:
Curtis McNeal,
Hayes Pullard
Randall Telfer
Christian Tupou
Congrats to all of our guys!
And a special thanks to Lane Kiffin for bringing this team together...He deserved the Coach of the Year Award running away.