IRVING, Texas — The Big 12 Conference today announced its annual football postseason awards that includes 13 BYU student-athletes receiving recognition on offense, defense and special teams. The 2024 All-Big 12 selections were made by the league’s 16 head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Three Cougars were named first-team All-Big 12 including senior defensive end Tyler Batty, senior offensive left tackle Caleb Etienne and junior kicker Will Ferrin. In addition, senior defensive back Jakob Robinson and junior kick returner Keelan Marion earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors.
Eight additional BYU football players received various other recognition led by junior Jack Kelly, who was named honorable mention as both the Defensive Newcomer of the Year and at linebacker. Freshman safety Tommy Prassas also received honorable mention honors as Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year.
Junior quarterback Jake Retzlaff, along with senior offensive lineman Brayden Keim and junior lineman Weylin Lapuaho, received Big 12 honorable mention recognition on offense, while sophomore linebacker Isaiah Glasker, senior defensive back Marque Collins and senior lineman Blake Mangelson were named honorable mention on defense.
In addition to being named the All-Big 12 First Team kicker, Ferrin was also recognized as Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Year. A Lou Groza Award Semifinalist, Ferrin led the Big 12 in field goals with 21, good for eighth nationally. The 21 field goals also tied the BYU single-season record set by Justin Sorensen in 2013. Ferrin also converting all 39 of his extra-point attempts to lead all conference kickers in scoring with 101 points (8.4 per game). During the regular season, Ferrin was named Big 12 Special Teams Co-Player of the Week following his performance in a 37-24 win at UCF. He later booted a 44-yard, game-winning field goal to defeat Utah, 22-21. Ferrin is a junior majoring in business management.
In addition to being named All-Big 12 First Team, Batty was also recognized by the coaches receiving honorable mention for both Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year. Batty led all BYU defensive linemen with 55 tackles, including seven for loss, while adding eight quarterback hurries and being the only defensive lineman in the nation with two interceptions. He was on the Rotary Lombardi Award Final Watchlist as well as the preseason watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and East-West Shrine Bowl. Batty graduated with a degree in communications studies in April 2024.
Etienne, who started all 12 games for BYU at left tackle, was named All-Big 12 First Team and also honorable mention Offensive Lineman of the Year. Etienne anchored a Cougar offensive line that surrendered just 1.3 sack per game and helped BYU average 160 yards rushing and 238 yards passing per game. Etienne is majoring in sociology.
Marion is one of three finalists for the Jet Award, given annually to the premier return specialist in college football. He finished the regular season tied for the FBS and Big 12 lead in kickoff touchdowns with two and was 12th nationally in yards per return at 26.2. Following his 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Utah, Marion was named the Jet Award Return Specialist of the Week on Nov. 11. As a receiver, Marion also has 23 catches for 340 yards and a touchdown to go along with 18 carries for 95 yards and two additional scores during the season. In addition, he led BYU in all-purpose yards with 907. Marion is a geography global studies major.
A semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award in 2023, Robinson finished the 2024 regular season with three interceptions, tied for eighth in the Big 12. His 11 career interceptions are the second most at BYU since 2000, when the NCAA began officially tracking defensive statistics. Robinson was named Midseason All-Big 12 by College Football News and Preseason All-Big 12 by Phil Steele and Athlon Sports. Robinson is majoring in geography global studies.
In his first season at BYU, Kelly led the Cougars with 12 quarterback hurries, five sacks, two forced fumbles and was second in tackles for loss with 10. He was top 10 in the Big 12 in forced fumbles and tackles for loss and was named the Midseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by CFN. Kelly was also on the preseason watch lists for the Butkus Award and East-West Shrine Bowl. He is majoring in business management.
Prassas played in all 12 games for the Cougars as a freshman. From his safety position he collected 18 tackles, had an interception in BYU’s 38-35 win over Oklahoma State and returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown to help the Cougars defeat No. 13 Kansas State, 38-9. He became the first true freshman at BYU with an interception and fumble recovery in the same season since 2000. Prassas is business management major.
In his first full season as the starting quarterback, Retzlaff led BYU to 9-0 start, including wins over nationally ranked SMU and Kansas State. After leading the Cougars to a come-from-behind victory over OSU in game seven, Retzlaff received the Davey O'Brien Great 8 Award and Manning Award Stars of the Week on Oct. 21. He was later honored as a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award and named to the midseason watchlist for the Maxwell Award. During the regular season, Retzlaff threw for 2,796 yard and 20 touchdowns. He also rushed for 388 yard with six additional scores. Retzlaff is majoring in exercise and wellness.
Lapuaho started all 12 games for BYU at guard or tackle and was named to the watch list for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award. He helped the BYU offense average 398 yards per game with a balanced attack of 160 yards rushing and 238 yards passing. Lapuaho was Phil Steele Preseason All-Big 12 selection in 2024, after being named Academic All-Big 12 First Team in 2023. He is majoring in family life.
Prior to being injured in the Cougars 22-21 win at Utah, Keim started all nine games for BYU at right tackle. He was named Midseason All-Big 12 by CFN and was a preseason All-Conference selection by Athlon Sports. Keim was Academic All-Big 12 First Team in 2023 and was named to the East-West Shrine Bowl Watch List prior to the 2024 season. Keim graduated with degree in construction and facilities management in August 2023.
Glasker was named Chuck Bednarik National Player of the Week on Oct. 15 by the Maxwell Football Club for his performance in BYU’s 41-19 win over Arizona. Against the Wildcats, he totaled five solo tackles, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries, an interception for a 21-yard touchdown, a sack, a pass break up and a forced fumble that led to a BYU field goal. During the regular season, Glasker led the Big 12 in tackles for loss with 13.5. He was second on the team with 62 tackles, 3.5 sacks, eight quarterback hurries and two interceptions. Glasker was named Midseason All-America by The Athletic and Midseason All-Big 12 by CFN. He is majoring in business management.
After transferring from Weber State to BYU Collins had an outstanding senior season for the Cougars at cornerback. He led BYU in passes defended with 10 and break ups with eight, both good for top 15 in the Big 12 Conference. Collins started 11 of the 12 games for the Cougars and was named Midseason All-Big 12 by CFN. Collins graduated from Weber State with a degree in professional sales and merchandise.
Mangelson started 11 games for BYU on the defensive line in 2024 and was named Midseason All-Big 12 by CFN. He recorded his first career interception and career-high four solo tackles in BYU’s 34-28 win at Baylor. Mangelson also tied a career high with seven tackles in the Cougars’ 18-15 win at SMU. He will graduate from BYU in December 2024 with a degree in family life.
After finishing 2023 at 5-7 in its first year of Big 12 play, BYU wrapped up the 2024 regular season at 10-2 and in a four-way tie atop the conference standings with ASU, Colorado and Iowa State. The Cougars have now won at least 10 games in three of the last five seasons under head coach Kalani Sitake. BYU is currently ranked 18th in the latest college football polls.
Overall, the teams with the most players honored included Iowa State with 16 selections, Colorado 14, BYU 13, Kansas State 13, Baylor 12 and Arizona State 12.
For additional information about the 2024 Big 12 Conference football awards visit big12sports.com.