MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following a record-setting performance in the Sunflower Showdown, Kansas State sophomore Phillip Brooks has been named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.
Brooks’ weekly honor is the seventh for the Wildcats this season, which are the most since the 2017 team had eight.
A product of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Brooks returned four punts for a school-record 189 yards with two touchdowns against Kansas, the most punt-return touchdowns in school history. Brooks’ yardage record edged out David Allen’s mark of 172 against Texas in 1998. His single-game yardage total ranks third in Big 12 history and was the most by a Big 12 player since 2009. Additionally, his 47.25-yard average was the highest nationally since 1996 among players with four or more returns.
Brooks became the first player in the nation with two punt-return touchdowns in a single game since Greg Dortch of Wake Forest in 2018, while he is the first Big 12 ever player to do so in a conference game.
K-State, ranked 16th this week in both the Associated Press Top 25 and Amway Coaches’ polls, travels to face West Virginia this Saturday. The game, which kicks at 11 a.m. (CT) will be televised by ESPN2.
