Mott is Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week

Kansas State junior defensive end Brendan Mott was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week in football today for his excellent performance against West Virginia on Saturday, a 48-31 Wildcat victory.

In that game, Mott set personal bests in tackles with 8, solo tackles with 5, and sacks with 3. For the season, Mott has 29 tackles including 19 solo tackles and 6 sacks. He also has 1 pass defended.

The recognition is the 10th weekly Big 12 honor for the Wildcats this season, and Mott is the 9th Wildcat so honored. Others to receive weekly Big 12 awards this season are: Phillip Brooks, Drake Cheatum, Khalid Duke, Josh Hayes, Will Howard, Adrian Martinez (twice), Kobe Savage, and Ty Zentner.

Other players recognized by the Big 12 today were: Offensive Player of the Week Bijan Robinson of Texas, Special Teams Player of the Week Griffin Kell of TCU, and Newcomer of the Week C.J. Coldon of Oklahoma.

In other football news today, senior punter Ty Zentner was named a Ray Guy Award semifinalist.

Zentner and the punt team have been lights-out this season, with an average net punt of 41.2 yards, 20 punts downed inside the 20, and only 3 touchbacks on 44 punts. Opponents have only returned 5 of Zentner’s punts, and the longest return was 14 yards.

Lastly, the women’s basketball team climbed into the AP Top 25, ranked 25th following their victory over then-4th ranked Iowa on Thursday. They just barely made the top 25, though, as they are only 2 points ahead of unofficial No. 26 Oklahoma, who fell 10 spots after a blowout loss at Utah. Jeff Mittie’s Wildcats were last in the Top 25 in February.