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Joe Pawelek and Jordan Lake Named Preseason All-Big 12
July 17, 2008
Baylor junior defensive standouts Joe Pawelek and Jordan Lake were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Football team selected by the media, the conference office announced Thursday. After establishing himself as one of the Big 12's top linebackers as a freshman and sophomore, Pawelek is a 2008 All-America candidate both in the classroom and on the field. He earned second-team All-Big 12 honors from several media outlets as a sophomore when he ranked second on the team in tackles with 99 stops. Pawelek also added 8.0 tackles behind the line to rank second on the squad. With 22 career starts to his credit, Pawelek has the most starts of any returning Baylor defender and the second-most (along with Dan Gay) among any BU returnee. In just two seasons, he's totaled 185 tackles in 24 games and needs just 132 stops to crack the Bears' all-time top 10; 33 assisted stops to reach Baylor's top 10 in that category, too. Lake, who was named to the 40-man 2008 Jim Thorpe Award Watch List earlier this month and is also an All-America candidate, was a consensus second-team All-Big 12 performer as a sophomore in 2007. He missed all of spring practice while recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, but will be full-speed when fall camp opens in August 1. Lake registered six double-digit tackle games a year ago and finished the season with a team-high 120 total tackles, the most by a Baylor player since Maurice Lane's 129 tackles in 2003. He ranked third in the Big 12 (No. 1 among defensive backs) and No. 30 nationally with 10.0 tackles per game a year ago. Lake had a hand in six of the 19 turnovers the Baylor defense created a year ago, as he picked off a pair of passes, recovered two fumbles and forced a pair of fumbles in 12 starts.
Chase Daniel (Missouri) was named Preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Auston English (Oklahoma) was selected Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and Darrell Scott (Colorado) was chosen Preseason Newcomer of the Year in a Big 12 Conference media poll. Baylor, which begins fall camp Aug. 1 in preparation for its Aug. 28 season-opener against Wake Forest, will meet the media on July 23 at the Big 12's annual media day in Kansas City, Mo. In addition to Head Coach Art Briles, the Bears will be represented by seniors Jason Smith, Vincent Rhodes and Thomas White. |
