MANHATTAN, Kan. (Kansas State Athletics) – More postseason accolades came in for Kansas State juniors Deuce Vaughn and Felix Anudike-Uzomah on Wednesday as they were named All-Americans by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the organization announced. Vaughn was named to the first team as an all-purpose player, while Anudike-Uzomah was on the second team.
This is the fourth First Team All-America designation for Vaughn, including the third among the five groups that make up Consensus All-America status as he was also named to the first team by the Associated Press and Sporting News. Vaughn is one of three repeat First Team All-Americans on the 2022 AFCA first team, joining Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter and Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr.
Anudike-Uzomah earned hits fifth All-America honor and fourth second-team distinction after already being named an All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation, Football Writers Association of America and CBS Sports, while he was a third-team selection by the Associated Press.
A native of Round Rock, Texas, Vaughn enters bowl season ranked 10th nationally in scrimmage yards (rushing plus receiving) at 136.9 yards per game, while he is 11th in the country with 1,425 total rushing yards. His rushing total ranks fourth in school history, and he is just the third player in school history with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons (Darren Sproles: 2002, 2003, 2004; Daniel Thomas: 2009, 2010).
Vaughn has 3,471 career rushing yards to rank second in school history to Sproles (4,979), while he was the fastest player Big 12 history to reach 3,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a career, doing so in his 32nd game.
Anudike-Uzomah, a product of Kansas City, Missouri, was the target of continual double-team blocks throughout the season but still led the Big 12 with 8.5 total sacks to go along with 11.0 tackles for loss and 44 tackles. He also batted away one pass and forced two fumbles. The 2022 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Anudike-Uzomah has 20.5 career sacks to rank sixth in school history, and he has eight career forced fumbles to tie for fourth and sit just one shy of the school record.
The duo of Vaughn and Anudike-Uzomah helped K-State earned its third Big 12 title when the Wildcats knocked off No. 3 TCU, 31-28, in overtime in the 2022 Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship on December 3. The Wildcats, who were ranked ninth in the final College Football Playoff Top 25 of 2022, take on No. 5 Alabama in the 89th annual Allstate Sugar Bowl on December 31. The game, which will be played inside Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, kicks off at 11 a.m., and will be shown on ESPN.
