Toben Opurum
Career Honors: 2012: Earned Academic All Big-12 Second Team honors… Named to the Athletic Director[apos]s Honor Roll during spring semester. 2011: Named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention by the conference coaches. 2010: Academic All-Big 12 First Team, KU Special Teams Player of the Week vs. Kansas State. 2009: Rivals.com Freshman All-Big 12.
2012 (Sr.): Selected by his teammates to be one of three permanent team captions prior to the season… Named to College Football Performance Awards Watch List prior to the season… Played in all 12 games… Started 11 games at rush end/outside linebacker… Registered 43 tackles, including six TFLs for a loss of 21 yards… Had 1.5 sacks for a loss of 11 yards… Also forced two fumbles, collected two fumble recoveries and three pass breakups… Had a huge day versus Rice with three solo tackles, a sack, two TFLs, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery… Fumble recovery against Rice was the first of his career… Made six tackles and added a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup against TCU… Added a 12-yard reception on a fake field goal at Kansas State… Pass reception was his first since 2009… Collected season-high eight stops, including 1.5 TFLs, against Oklahoma State… Had four stops, a TFL and a quarterback hurry before leaving the Texas game with an injury… Registered five tackles, including an assisted TFL, on Senior Day against Iowa State.
2011 (Jr.): Chosen by his teammates to be one of four permanent team captains… Started all 12 games as the [quote]Buck[quote] linebacker … Had 45 tackles, including a team-best 10 1/2 stops behind the line of scrimmage for a total of 55 yards… Lead the team with four sacks and seven quarterback hurries … Recorded a career-best 11 tackles against McNeese State … Registered a pair of quarterback hurries … Made four solo tackles against Northern Illinois, including a pair behind the line of scrimmage … Collected second sack at Oklahoma State, along with two solo tackles … Made seven tackles against Oklahoma, including a tackle behind the line of scrimmage … Had seven tackles, including a 15-yard sack, at Texas … Made three tackles, including one for a five-yard loss, at Iowa State … Made a pair of stops against Baylor … Had a solo tackle and a quarterback hurry at Texas A&M … Recorded three tackles, a sack and forced a fumble against Missouri.
2010 (So.): Switched from running back to linebacker before season started… Was then moved to defensive end and found a spot in the starting lineup for the final six games… Did not play in the first two games of the year… Finished the year with 21 tackles… Had three tackles for loss, including one sack on the season… Sack came against Missouri in the season finale… Also broke up three passes and forced one fumble… The forced fumble came against Colorado and resulted in a return for a touchdown by Tyler Patmon… First tackle came against Kansas State… Next game made season-high six tackles against Texas A&M… Recorded four tackles against Oklahoma State.
2009 (Fr.): Earned Rivals.com Freshman All-Big 12 honors… Became the first freshman to lead Kansas in rushing in a season since Clark Green in 2002… Shared time with Jake Sharp, but carried 133 times for a team-best 554 yards and nine touchdowns… Ran for 109 yards against Southern Miss… The next week fell just shy of the 100-yard mark with 98 yards on 23 carries against Iowa State… Rushed for at least one touchdown in each of the first six games… In his collegiate debut against Northern Colorado he carried eight times for 79 yards and two touchdowns, while producing his season-long run of 26 yards… Caught 13 passes out of the backfield for 105 yards and one touchdown… Had three catches for 50 yards against Duke… Made at least one reception in each of the first five games and at least two catches in four-straight contests.
High School: A three-year starter… Played running back, linebacker, punter and returned kicks… A two-time all-district first team selection… Earned super team second team honors… Was his school[apos]s MVP and a team captain… As a senior he rushed 107 times for 882 yards and eight touchdowns… Also had 31 receptions for 238 yards… As a junior he rushed 99 times for 600 yards and four scores, and had 27 catches for 574 yards and six more touchdowns… For his career he averaged 7.1 yards per carry… Also competed in track.
Personal: Son of George and Agatha Opurum… Has three brothers… Major is pre-business… Likes singing, rapping, playing basketball and video games.