MORGANTOWN - Two of the many players who can use the final weeks of the season to pass Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson and win the Heisman Trophy play in the Big 12.
Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield is on pace to set the NCAA record for passer efficiency. Teammate Dede Westbrook is No. 2 nationally in receiving yards per game and touchdowns.
Inside the same conference, you'll find seven of the top 30 offenses in yards per game, five of the top 30 in passing yards per game and four of the top 30 in points per game. The Big 12 also has the national leader in rushing yards per game and the leader and three of the top 10 in passing yards per game.
Offense is still the king, but the Big 12 nevertheless hands out an award for defensive player of the year, which is sort of like winning salutatorian with a 4.5 GPA. The Big 12 has honored 27 players since debuting in 1996. Nine have been defensive linemen, including the co-winners last year, and 12 have been linebackers.
That means six were defensive backs. Four were cornerbacks, which does and does not make sense given the legacy of the league.
"Probably because of the stats, linebackers and pass rushers get it," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said.
There's no arguing that, and that's why Oklahoma linebacker Jordan Evans, Kansas State defensive end Jordan Willis, Kansas defensive end Dorance Armstrong and Oklahoma State defensive tackle Vincent Taylor are likely competing against one another.
Tackles stand out. Sacks cannot be ignored. Evans is scoring touchdowns. Taylor is blocking kicks. Willis anchors the Big 12's top-ranked defense. Armstrong is a menace.
And there's no arguing that quarterbacks and receivers make cornerbacks look foolish. A year ago, WVU's Daryl Worley led the conference in interceptions, but not everyone agreed he had a great season and some suspected his interceptions came because defenses targeted him. Ultimately, he was drafted in the third round a year earlier than expected, and he starts today for the Carolina Panthers.
But if the battle every game is to win with the ball in the air or to get the person with the ball on the ground, wouldn't a cornerback be a logical candidate for the award? And why isn't WVU's Rasul Douglas the leader, never mind a contender?
"We still have two games to play," Mountaineers defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said, "but right now, his numbers speak for themselves."
They'll have to, at least for a week. Douglas was sick Tuesday and couldn't speak with reporters. For now, the only number WVU cares about is the two games, beginning with Saturday's 3:30 p.m. matchup with Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium.
"I don't know if he's the best," said cornerbacks coach Blue Adams. "He's playing good ball. I don't know how all the corners in the league are doing, but he's not first. His numbers don't say he's first, so for that alone, there's room for growth. We'll continue to chase that to the end, and once the final game ends, we'll see how he stacks up then."
Adams is in his first season with the Mountaineers, and he deserves credit for what Douglas is doing, especially when it relates to batting down accomplishments and reaching for more.
Douglas' numbers actually do say he's not first. He leads the Big 12 but is second in the nation in interceptions, but being the best cornerback or the best defender in the conference is one of those things Adams and Douglas will lean over so that they can get their hands on something else.
"We tend to live outside that glass dish, that glass bowl, and not necessarily look at it in terms of the Big 12, but how we stack up in the nation, in the country," Adams said. "Rasul has got a little work to do."
What he's done is just fine, though. His interceptions aren't flukes. He's taking the ball away from the offense. He reads plays. He jumps routes. He catches passes he tips. He uses his 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame to get receivers out of the way so he can make a play.
He's not walling off one half of the field. That's never going to happen in the Big 12. It's never going to happen on the back end of a defense that blitzes as much as WVU's and leaves cornerbacks and safeties alone in one-on-one coverage.
But Douglas, who is also No. 4 among Big 12 cornerbacks in tackles per game, makes life extremely difficult for offenses.
"You've got to be really accurate because he's going to swallow guys and cover them up really well," Mountaineers quarterback Skyler Howard said. "If you don't put the ball exactly where it needs to be, it's probably going to be his, because he is so long and because he will go up for it. He'll beat the receiver to the ball if it's not there accurately and on time."
The Mountaineers are fourth in the conference in passing yards allowed per game, but they care more about pass efficiency defense, where they rank No. 2. They'll be tested by Iowa State's streaking offense, its two quarterbacks and 6-5 receiver Allen Lazard, who is 85 yards away from a 1,000-yard season.
This sort of combat is nothing new, and Douglas has already dealt with some of the nation's best in Big 12 play alone, including last week's duel with Westbrook. Douglas' success is why the NFL has taken such a sudden and sincere interest in him for the spring's draft.
"He's playing with great technique, he's playing with great ball skills, he's doing some things that you like and he's doing some things scouts like," said Adams, who spent the previous four years with the Miami Dolphins. "But it's tough for me to focus on all the great plays, because I'm always thinking how he could have done better."
Contact Mike Casazza at 304-319-1142 or mikec@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikecasazza and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/wvu/.