Oklahoma football: Two Sooners make ESPN’s All-Bowl Team
By Chip Rouse
Two Oklahoma football players have something else to add to their college resumes and 2020 season accomplishments.
Offensive lineman Adrian Ealy and defensive back Tre Norwood have been named to ESPN’s 2020 All-Bowl Team.
The All-Bowl Team consists of 12 offensive players, 11 on defense and three special teamers.
The team was selected on the basis of individual performances in their team’s bowl game this season and not on performance over the full season.
Alabama, perhaps not surprisingly lead all teams with four players on the ESPN All-Bowl Team (three on offense and one on defense), including quarterback Mac Jones and Heisman Trophy-winning wide receiver DeVonta Smith.
Norwood intercepted a pass from Florida’s Heisman finalist Kyle Trask on Florida’s first possession of the game and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown. He was voted the outstanding defensive player in the Cotton Bowl game.
Ealy was part of an Oklahoma offensive line that cleared the way for 435 rushing yards and failed to yield a quarterback sack in 31 pass-blocking snaps.
To be perfectly candid, I was a little surprised not to see OU running back Rhamondre Stevenson’s name on this list. Cameron Peoples of Appalachian State and Bijan Robinson of Texas were the two running backs selected. Both had bigger all-around numbers than Stevenson, but nevertheless, the OU running back’s 186 rushing yards and 10.3 yards per carry against a much better opponent than either Peoples or Robinson faced was equally impressive.
All five Big 12 teams that participated in a bowl game this season placed at least one player on the team, led by Oklahoma’s two.
Texas’ sensational freshman RB Robinson accounted for 220 yards of total offense (183 rushing and 37 receiving) and three touchdowns in the Longhorns’ 55-23 win over Colorado in the Alamo Bowl.
Freshman wide receiver Brennan Pressley of Oklahoma State had a breakout performance against Miami in the Cheez-It Bowl. He caught six passes for a game-high 118 yards and three touchdowns.
Linebackers Josh Chandler-Semedo of West Virginia and O’Rien Vance of Iowa State made the All-Bowl Team on defense. Both players were named Most Valuable Player on defense in their respective bowl games (Chandler-Semedo in West Virginia’s win over Army in the Liberty Bowl and Vance in the Fiesta Bowl, where Iowa State defeated Oregon).