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Big 12 Football Awards Announced, Darius Stills and Tony Fields Bring Home Player of the Year Honors

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6 years ago

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Tony Fields
(WVU Athletics/Ben Queen-USA Today)

Seniors Darius Stills and Tony Fields headlined a group of West Virginia players that received recognition in the 2020 All-Big 12 Football Awards, released on Thursday.

Stills, a defensive tackle, was named the conference’s Defensive Lineman of the Year while Fields, a linebacker, took home the Defensive Newcomer of the Year Award. Stills and Fields were also named to the All-Big 12 First Team, along with junior running back Leddie Brown.

A senior from Fairmont, Stills had 22 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and an interception as WVUโ€™s nose guard this season. He announced on Twitter that he intends to turn pro following this season and will play in WVU’s bowl game. He finishes his WVU career with 79 tackles, 26 for loss and 12 sacks. He was named a first-team All-Big 12 honoree following a breakout junior season in which he collected 14.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks. Stills has been invited to participate in this season’s East-West Shrine Bowl and Hula Bowl.

Fieldsย transferred to WVU prior to this season after three seasons as a starter at Arizona. He led the Mountaineers with 88 total tackles and also had four tackles for loss, one sack and one interception. Fields has accepted an invitation to this seasonโ€™s Reeseโ€™s Senior Bowl and announced that he will not play in a bowl game this season instead, focusing on the NFL Draft.

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Brown had a breakout season as WVU’s lead running back, finishing second in the conference with 945 rushing yards while leading the Mountaineers with 1,145 all-purpose yards and 11 touchdowns. He ran for over 100 yards five times this season.

Four more Mountaineers were named to the All-Big 12 Second-Team — receiver Winston Wright, offensive lineman Michael Brown, defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor and safety Alonzo Addae. Wright led WVU with 45 catches, 528 yards and two touchdowns, Brown was a second-year starter at guard, Mesidor led the team with five sacks as a true freshman and Addae finished second behind Fields with 61 tackles and also had two interceptions.

Big 12 honorable mentions included center Chase Behrndt, guard Zach Frazier, cornerback Dreshun Miller, defensive end Jeffery Pooler Jr., safety Tykee Smith, defensive lineman Dante Stills and offensive tackle Brandon Yates. Leddie Brown was a finalist for Offensive Player of the Year, Fields was a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year and Mesidor was a finalist for Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Iowa State running back Breence Hall was named the Offensive Player of the Year and Iowa State linebacker Mike Rose was the Defensive Player of the Year. Iowa State coach Matt Campbell was the Coach of the Year.

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