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WVU football players make All-Big 12 Team

By Michael Bonaventura

Sep 20, 2014; Morgantown, WV, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight (9) is pressured by West Virginia Mountaineers defensive lineman Noble Nwachukwu (97) during the first quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 20, 2014; Morgantown, WV, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight (9) is pressured by West Virginia Mountaineers defensive lineman Noble Nwachukwu (97) during the first quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports /
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The WVU football team has a lot to be proud of as two of their players for this upcoming season have garnered nice honors. These two players are on the All-Big 12 Preseason team, one of the offensive line, and one on the defensive line. 

For this years class, out of the whole Big 12 Conference, there are a total of nine seniors, 11 juniors and sophomores, with only one holdover from last years preseason team.  Last year’s squad had a holdover in running back Samaje Perine (Oklahoma). Five players were selected to the 2015 All-Big 12 First team, while 10 were on the second team.

I’m only concerned with two of these players, and that would be Tyler Orlosky a senior OL for WVU, and Noble Nwachukwu, a senior DL also from the Mountaineers. 

Being the only two players from Morgantown, this makes for a big accomplishment for the two seniors.

This pair of players are monsters. Orlosky is 6-foot-4 295-pounder from Cleveland, Ohio. He has played in 37 games at WVU with 29 of them being starts.

This isn’t Orlosky’s first award for being outstanding since he’s been in Morgantown. As a red-shirt junior he was on ESPN’s All-Big 12 First Team, the coaches All-Big 12 Second Team, and All-Big 12 Academic First Team. So not only is he tough on the field, he’s tough in the classroom, which for your Offensive line you want someone smart protecting your QB.

As for Noble Nwachukwu, who is also a complete package at 6-foot-2, 275 pounds. He is a terror in the middle of the defense for the Mountaineers. He has played in 35 games and has 26 starts in his career at WVU. His resume is just as impressive. 

Last year, Nwachukwu started all 13 games at defensive end and finished with 47 tackles, with 37 of them being solo stops. He had a team leading 8.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, one pass breakup, six quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.

He doesn’t just play on the defensive side of the ball, as he has played in 873 plays, but only 785 of them were on the defensive side of the ball. This means he can make some noise on the special teams side of the ball as well.

These two should feel honored to be able to be joined with the best players out the of entire Big 12 Conference. They both show great leadership, on and off the field, and a desire to keep making themselves better. I look for these two to lead their prospective positions this coming season for WVU.

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