Nebraska senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has been named the 2009 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, the conference office announced on Tuesday morning. Suh also captured Big 12 Defensive Lineman-of-the-Year honors.

The Big 12 Conference announced all of its major award winners and all-conference selections on Tuesday morning. The individual award winners and all-conference teams were selected by a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches.

In a news release, the Sports Information Department at UNL noted that Suh was chosen in July as the preseason choice as Big 12 Defensive Player-of-the-Year. The release noted that after the dominant season Suh has had, postseason awards no surprise.

The 6-4, 300-pound Suh leads Nebraska with 70 total tackles, including 7.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss. He also paces the team with 10 pass breakups, three blocked kicks and 24 quarterback hurries, while adding his fourth career interception.

A native of Portland, Ore., Suh is also a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Outland Trophy, the Rotary Lombardi Award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Lott Trophy. The winners of each of those awards will be announced next week.

Suh is the second Nebraska player to win Big 12 Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors, joining Grant Wistrom who won the award in the first two years of the conference (1996, 1997). Suh is also Nebraska’s second winner of the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year in the past four seasons, joining Adam Carriker who won the award in 2006.

Suh is just the second player in league history to win the Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year award in the same season (Brian Orakpo-Texas, 2008).