Photos: Pac-12 football superstar final awards
With just the bowls left to go, it's time to hand out awards to the top 12 players in the Pac-12 for 2013. Take a look and see who moved up and who fell down.
No. 1 Marcus Mariota
Oregon sophomore quarterback
Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 211 pounds
Previous Pac-12 rank: No. 1
His case: Sure, his Ducks stumbled at the end of the season, and sure, he threw four picks in the last two games of the regular season. But Mariota's numbers still ended up sparkling, and he managed to play well despite a knee injury robbing him of much of his mobility. Ultimately, he ended up with 3,412 passing yards, a crazy 9.48 yards-per-attempt figure, 30 TD passes and 4 interceptions ... (pause to catch breath) ... and that's before counting his 582 rushing yards, 7.2 yards per carry and nine more touchdowns. He's the best player in the Pac-12 in 2012.
What we said before the season: All Mariota did as a redshirt freshman last season was lead Oregon to a 12-1 record, bringing the Ducks one overtime loss to Stanford away from playing for the national title. His stats were gaudy, too: he threw for 2,677 yards and 32 touchdowns and ran for 752 yards and five scores.
No. 2 Ka'Deem Carey
Arizona junior running back
Height, weight: 5-foot-10, 196 pounds
Previous rank: No. 3
His case: If he hadn't missed the first six quarters of the season, he may have challenged his opponent in Tuesday's bowl game, Boston College's Andre Williams, for a second-straight NCAA rushing crown. As it is, with an inexperienced QB and meager passing game, everyone knew he was options 1, 1A, 1B and on down the list. And despite all that attention, he broke 100 yards in every game, hit 200 yards twice, set a UA record for carries in a game, broke it a month later against Oregon and finished with 1,716 yards, 17 TDs and another 173 receiving yards and a touchdown. He's Arizona's best-ever running back, and Mariota only slightly edged him in this list.
What we said before the season: No one in America had more rushing yards than the Canyon Del Oro High School graduate's UA-record 1,929 last season. He ran for 24 touchdowns, tying Art Luppino's 58-year-old school mark, and fell one yard shy of Dennis Northcutt's 1999 record of 2,248 all-purpose yards. His 172-yard effort in the New Mexico Bowl was a Wildcats record, too.
No. 3 Brandin Cooks
Oregon State junior wide receiver
Height, weight: 5-foot-10, 181 pounds
Previous rank: No. 2
His case: The NCAA's Biletnikoff Award winner would have been atop this list if the Pac-12 didn't also have the best QB and RB in the nation (yes, the nation, despite what the Heisman voters think). The junior grabbed 128 passes, a Pac-12 record. He had 1,730 receiving yards including his bowl game, which is also a Pac-12 record. He caught 16 TDs. He was amazing.
What we said before the season: Only two Beavers wideouts - Mike Hass and James Newson - have ever eclipsed 3,000 career receiving yards. Cooks, a co-captain this season, is on pace, having posted 1,542 in two years. He did most his damage last season, posting 1,151 yards on 67 receptions, including a 75-yard score.
No. 4 Sean Mannion
Oregon State junior quarterback
Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 220 pounds
Previous rank: No. 7
His case: In a case slightly opposite that of Ka'Deem Carey, Mannion's opponents knew he was coming - but couldn't stop him. The top two OSU rushers combined for just 998 yards, so Mannion and his top target, Brandin Cooks, decided to do things on their own. And how. The junior ended up with 4,662 passing yards (Pac-12 best), 37 TD passes (Pac-12 best) and completed 66.3 percent of his passes while guiding his team to an 8-5 record and a bowl win and padding his NFL resume.
What we said before the season: We didn't, and at that point we had good reason to. He wasn't bad, but a line of 15 TDs and 13 INTs wasn't anything to write home about.
No. 5 Brett Hundley
UCLA sophomore quarterback
Height, weight: 6-foot-3, 227 pounds
Previous rank: No. 4
His case: The Chandler product didn't blow the world away with giant numbers, but he was efficient and deadly in leading the Bruins to a 9-3 record. He completed 67.8 percent of his passes and each throw averaged 8.32 yards. He also ran for 587 yards and accounted for nine TDs on the ground. The only question left for the sophomore is whether to stay for another year and attempt a national title run or go pro and make big bucks.
What we said before the season: As a freshman, the Chandler High School graduate set UCLA's single-season record for completions (318), passing yards (3,740) and total yardage (4,095). UCLA's first star quarterback since Cade McNown could amp those figures up even more this season, though protecting him could be a problem.
No. 6 Bishop Sankey
Washington junior running back
Height, weight: 5-foot-10, 204 pounds
Previous rank: No. 5
His case: The junior came out of nowhere in 2013 to lead the Huskies offense. He led the Pac-12 in total rushing yards and popped off 18 TDs on the ground. The only reason he's not in Carey's league is because he didn't have nearly the pressure of carrying his team on his back and had two games, both losses, in which he was bottled up and failed to reach 100 yards.
What we said before the season: We didn't, because he didn't quite make this list. Looking back, though, maybe we should have. He had 1,439 rushing yards and 16 TDs.
No. 7 Tyler Gaffney
Stanford senior running back
Height, weight: 6-foot-1, 221 pounds
Previous rank: No. 6
His case: Stanford's mentality hasn't changed a bit since Jim Harbaugh left, and it's guys like Gaffney who prove that every Saturday. His 20 rushing touchdowns led the Pac-12, and his 1,618 yards are third. As of Dec. 27, only Carey and Sankey have also reached 1,000 rushing yards.
What we said before the season: We didn't, because he didn't make this list - and how could he have being the backup to last year's senior stud RB at Stanford, Stepfan Taylor?
No. 8 Anthony Barr
UCLA senior linebacker
Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 245 pounds
Previous rank: No. 8
His case: The future pro might not have been among the top total tacklers, but nobody was more efficient at stopping plays behind the line. He had 20 total tackles for loss in 2013 and averaged a league-leading 1.67 per game. His draft stock is blowing up, too - he's been seen as high as No. 2 on ESPN boards.
What we said before the season: Barr was a running back and wideout his first two years at UCLA before moving to linebacker, a position he hadn't played since he was 13 years old. Last year, he recorded 13.5 sacks, second-most in the nation. You might remember him from the sack that ended Matt Barkley's career.
No. 9 Will Sutton
Arizona State senior defensive tackle
Height, weight: 6-foot-1, 288 pounds
Previously ranked: No. 7 at the first-quarter point, unranked since
His case: He didn't put up big numbers, and he seemed to disappear in some early games - but then the ASU defense caught fire and Sutton ended up winning the defensive player of the year. The senior's next stop will be the NFL, where he'll likely penetrate offensive lines and wreak havoc on RBs and QBs.
What we said before the season: The reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year might also be the nation's best big man. He had 13 sacks last season before deciding to return to school rather than be a sure-fire first-round NFL draft pick. He was ASU's first defensive player to be named a consensus first-team All-American since Terrell Suggs in 2002.
No. 11 Kevin Hogan
Stanford sophomore quarterback
Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 220 pounds
Previous rank: No. 11
His case: Hogan's numbers don't indicate he was one of the best Pac-12 QBs, but that's mostly because The Cardinals pounds the ball rather than airing it out. If not for two close losses, he'd be leading his team against Florida State for a BCS title.
What we said before the season: After playing in a reserve role, Hogan started five games - and won them all - to finish last season. The teams he beat were monsters: Oregon State, Oregon, UCLA twice (once in the Pac-12 title game) and Wisconsin. He threw for 1,096 yards and nine scores, and was the team's second-leading rusher, gaining 263 yards.
No. 12 David Yankey
Stanford senior left guard
Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 311 pounds
Previous rank: No. 12
His case: Stanford ran for 210.9 yards per game, and Kevin Hogan has only been sacked 13 times in 13 games. Two-time all-Pac-12 lineman Yankey is the biggest reason why The Cardinal is in the Rose Bowl.
What we said before the season: Maybe you've never heard of him, but Yankey is one of the nation's best offensive lineman. He won the Morris Trophy, voted on by Pac-12 defensive linemen, last year, and earned first-team All-America honors by two publications. He started all 14 games last season at left tackle and 13 at left guard the year before. He'll likely return to guard this year, and could be a first-round draft pick.
Off list: Austin Seferian-Jenkins
Washington junior tight end
Height, weight: 6-foot-6, 266 pounds
Previous rank: No. 11
Why he fell out: Like Ka'Deem Carey, Seferian-Jenkins missed the first game of the season because of suspension by the team. His offseason DUI charge cost him in the wallet ($695 fine), in free time (a night in jail in Issaquah, Wash.) and on the field. Unlike Carey, he hasn't dominated since returning to action. After a monster 2012, defenses have largely taken him out. He has 23 catches for 306 yards and five touchdowns, well off his pace from 2012 when he finished with 69 catches for 852 yards.
What we said before the season: The Fox Island, Wash., native is already the best tight end in school history. He holds career Huskies records with 110 career receptions, 1,388 career receiving yards and 13 career touchdowns, and single-season marks with 69 catches for 850 yards. His 5.25 catches per game were the most of any tight end in the nation. And he's only a junior.
Off list: Byron Marshall
Oregon sophomore running back
Height, weight: 5-foot-10, 201 pounds
Previous rank: Unranked, then No. 9, now off the list
Why he fell off: The speedy sophomore tailed off hard at the end of the season, and his last game against Arizona ended after three carries, four yards and a injury that ended his season. He'll be back... 6.4 yards per carry and 14 TDs in limited time say so!
What we said before the season: We didn't, because it wouldn't have been fair to other players if the list was all Oregon Ducks.
Off list: De'Anthony Thomas
Oregon junior running back
Height, weight: 5-foot-9, 176 pounds
Previously ranked: No. 2, then No. 9, then off the list at midseason.
Why he dropped off: Thomas had 338 yards rushing and six TDs by the third game of the season, but an ankle injury kept him out of next four games. By the time he had returned, fellow RB Byron Marshall had blown by him and stolen his spot on this list.
What we said before the season: You have to see Thomas to appreciate him. The waterbug's numbers aren't stunning, but his presence belies his stature. Last year, he ran for 701 yards and caught passes for 445 more, all while returning punts and kickoffs. (He took one of each to the house.) He'll never be a bellcow back, but will get more carries with Kenjon Barner having graduated.
Off list: Marqise Lee
USC junior wide receiver
Height, weight: 6 feet, 195 pounds
Previously ranked: No. 1, then No. 8, then dropped out at midseason
What we said when he dropped out at the midway point: The star who set the Pac-12 on fire last year is injured and missed the Arizona game. But unlike Thomas before him, his low-by-his-standard statistics aren't the fault of that missed game. In the five games he has played, Lee has 385 yards and just one touchdown. Most likely, this future NFL player can point to QB struggles - but that won't stop him from dropping out of the top 12 for now.
What we said before the season: After catching a whopping 118 passes for 1,721 yards as a sophomore last year, Lee was a Heisman Trophy favorite entering this season. He owns or shares 22 Trojans records, five league marks and one NCAA record.
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