Oklahoma football: Two Sooners win Big 12 weekly awards
By Chip Rouse
Two Oklahoma football players earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors for their Week 5 performance.
Junior running back T.J. Pledger was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week and Sophomore linebacker David Ugwoegbu was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week.
Pledger rushed for a career-high 131 yards and averaged 6.0 yards per carry in Oklahoma’s 53-45 four-overtime victory over archrival Texas on Saturday. He accounted for the Sooners’ two third-quarter scores with touchdown runs of one and two yards. In addition, he caught two passes in the game for 24 yards.
The 100-yard rushing performance by Pledger, who hails from Los Angeles, California, area, was the first of his career.
Ugwoegbu blocked a Texas punt and recovered the loose ball deep in Texas territory in the second quarter, leading to Oklahoma’s second touchdown of the game and a 17-10 lead. It was the Sooners’ first blocked kick or punt of any kind this season. The sophomore from Katy, Texas, was also a big contributor on the OU defensive unit, recording a career-high six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and one quarterback hurry.
This is the first Big 12 honor for both Oklahoma players and the third and fourth weekly honors received by the Sooners this season. Redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for the week of Sept. 14 and backup kicker Stephen Johnson was Special Teams Player of the Week that same week. Johnson filled in for the injured Gabe Brkic in OU’s season opener against Missouri State.