Sept. 15, 2008
IRVING, Texas- Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin was named Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. Griffin joins Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2007), Josh Freeman (Kansas State, 2006), Colt McCoy (Texas, 2006), Brad Smith (Missouri, 2002), Reggie McNeal (Texas A&M, 2002), Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech, 1999) and Major Applewhite (Texas, 1998) as the only freshman quarterbacks so honored in the league's 13-year history. Only Griffin, Freeman and McNeal were true freshmen.
A product of Copperas Cove [Texas] High School, Griffin is the 14th Bear to earn a weekly Big 12 honor and joins Jonathan Golden (2002), Shawn Bell (2006) and Blake Szymanski (2007) as the only Bears to earn offensive player of the week honors.
In just his second career start and third career game, Griffin established several Baylor and one Big 12 single-game records in the Bears' 45-17 victory over Washington State last Friday night. He rushed for a school-record 217 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns, becoming the first quarterback in Baylor history to eclipse the 200-yard rushing plateau. Griffin became the first Baylor player with three runs of 50-plus yards in the same game, galloping 57 yards once and 58 yards twice.
More impressively, Griffin shattered the Baylor and Big 12 single-game record for yards per carry with a minimum of 10 carries. His 19.7-yard average easily eclipsed both the previous Baylor record (11.4, Walter Abercrombie) and the previous Big 12 mark (15.6, Marlon Lucky, Nebraska).
Additionally, Griffin was 7-of-15 passing for 129 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. His 346 yards of total offense was the 12th-best, single-game total in school history, second-best all-time by a Baylor freshman.
Texas Tech strong safety Daniel Charbonnet was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, while Missouri place kicker Jeff Wolfert earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
Baylor returns to action Friday, traveling to East Hartford, Conn., for a non-conference game against Connecticut. Kickoff between the Bears and Huskies is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT at Rentschler Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
