Three Wildcats honored by The Sporting News

Running back Leon Patton, offensive tackle Nick Stringer and cornerback Joshua Moore were honored by The Sporting News Friday as the trio was named to the magazine's Big 12 All-Freshman team.

Oklahoma State had the most players selected to the All-Freshman team with five, while Kansas State and Colorado led the North Division and were tied for second overall with three players each.

Patton set the K-State freshman rushing record during the regular season with 595 yards on 100 attempts (5.6 average) and led all freshman in the Big 12 with 976 all-purpose yards.

He also set the K-State single-game record for rushing yards by a true freshman with 151 vs. Oklahoma State, which was one of his three 100-yard rushing performances on the season, and the school single-game all-purpose record all freshman with 301 yards against the Cowboys.

During the year, Patton produced a number of big plays and led the Wildcats with six runs over 25 yards (44, 40, 37, 35, 34, 27), with two going for touchdowns. He also paced the Wildcats in touchdowns scored with seven, including a 95-yards kickoff return vs. Oklahoma State that earned him Big 12 special teams player-of-the-week honors.

A stalwart on the offensive line until suffering a late-season injury, Stringer started the first nine games of the season at tackle and was a consistent performer for the Wildcats. He played over 90 percent of the Wildcats' 545 snaps during that stretch and consistently graded out among K-State's top two offensive linemen.

Moore, the lone Wildcat selected on the defensive side of the ball, impressed the coaching staff with his speed and athleticism soon after arriving on campus and went on to appear in all 12 games during the regular season, with starts in each of the last four games of the year.

Moore collected a total of 28 tackles, including 2.5 for losses, during the regular season to rank 11th on the K-State defense and notched his first career interception at Kansas. He also had three pass break-ups and a forced fumble during the year.

The Sporting News 2006 Big 12 All-Freshman Team

Offense

WR Jared Perry, Missouri

WR Justin Fenty, Baylor

TE Riar Geer, Colorado*

OL (T) Adam Ulatoski, Texas*

OL (T) Trent Williams, Oklahoma

OL (T) Russell Okung, Oklahoma State

OL (T) Nick Stringer, Kansas State*

OL (T) Paul Backowski, Colorado*

QB Colt McCoy, Texas*

RB Leon Patton, Kansas State

RB Mike Goodson, Texas A&M

Defense

DL (E) Brandon Williams, Texas Tech

DL (T) Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska*

DL (E) Jason Lamb, Baylor*

LB Joe Pawelek, Baylor*

LB Patrick Lavine, Oklahoma State

LB Matt Featherston, Texas A&M*

LB Chris Collins, Oklahoma State

DB (CB) Jordan Peterson, Texas A&M*

DB (CB) Joshua Moore, Kansas State

DB (SS) Andre Sexton, Oklahoma State*

DB (CB) Anthony Webb, Kansas

Specialists

PK None

P Matt DiLallo, Colorado*

KR Perrish Cox, Oklahoma State

* Denotes redshirt freshmen