The Big 12 recognized two ISU football players with individual awards on Wednesday. While the awards will make nice mantle pieces, they aren’t quenching the thirst that the two have for next season.

Redshirt freshman Mike Warren notched himself Offensive Freshman of the Year, and defensive lineman Demond Tucker grabbed Defensive Newcomer of the Year. Both of them also earned All-Big 12 honorable mention selections.

Tucker wanted to be the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 during his first season at Iowa State after transferring in from Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi.

He didn’t get exactly that, but he was close.

“It’s a great feeling,” Tucker said about his Big 12 award. “I prayed about it. I knew that I wasn’t going to get the overall [best defensive player], but I just wanted to make myself known.”

Tucker racked up 28 tackles in 2015, 13 of them coming behind the line of scrimmage. Tucker, a nose guard, also had six sacks, which ranked second on the team. After putting up four tackles for loss and two sacks against Oklahoma State on Nov. 14, Tucker was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week.

Tucker, entering his redshirt senior season, still wants to be the best defensive player in the Big 12. He recognizes that it won’t be easy and plans to use this offseason to get himself ready to meet that goal.

“I’m going to try to step it up even more this offseason, and I’m going to get more prepared and be ready for next year,” Tucker said. “I think I’ve got a pretty good motor, but I want to have a motor that just won’t stop.”

At this point last season, Tucker was deciding where he wanted to attend college. He was undersized but had the explosiveness of an elite defensive lineman.

Iowa State is now reaping the benefits of his recruitment.

“It’s amazing,” Tucker said. “I came here on not much. I just wanted to come here and play. I knew I had to work myself up to the point where I could play. I didn’t get the opportunity right out of high school, so when I got this shot, it was a blessing. I knew I was going to hit the ground running. I just feel I have to do a little bit more to help our team for victory.”

One player who literally hit the ground running was Warren. The redshirt freshman from Lawton, Okla., was the Cyclones’ deadliest offensive threat in 2015. He shattered the ISU single-season freshman rushing record in the middle of the season and finished off his year with 1,339 yards.

Warren surpassed his original goal of 1,000 yards this season, attributing most of the success to the offensive line. He took the men in the trenches to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate.

But now he gets to celebrate, even though the news did wake him up from a mid-day nap. 

“I was sleeping, and my phone started to go off. It woke me up a bit,” Warren said. “It’s pretty exciting. I think I’ve showed a lot of people what could be happening — what could be possible in the next couple of years.”

Now that his original goal of 1,000 yards is in the rearview mirror, Warren will reach for the stars next season.

“I know I said this before. I wanted to be a 1,000-yard rusher,” Warren said. “One of my years here, I mean, that’s kind of a career goal. But since that’s been met, the next goal is probably 2,000 yards.”

Only 14 rushers in the history of college football have passed the 2,000-yard mark, and the list is littered with NFL Hall of Famers and Pro Bowlers. Former ISU running back Troy Davis is on that list twice, once in 1995 and the other in 1996.

To get to that legendary status in college football and at Iowa State, Warren, like Tucker, recognizes that there is a lot more work to be done.

“[I need to do] a whole lot more than I did this year,” Warren said. “I want to put more weight on [and] run through more tackles. Definitely just get bigger in the offseason and just be a bigger guy and more of a threat to people.”

If Warren is able to bulk up and maintain his level of speed, there isn’t much that he can’t do. At least that’s what Tucker thinks.

“I’ll put it like this: If he can gain a little bit more weight on him and the speed that he [has], he will be unstoppable,” Tucker said. “I feel like he’ll be the best back in the Big 12. As of right now, to me, he’s the best back. But if he gains a little more pounds and keeps the speed or gets a little faster, he’s going to be amazing.”