Illinois, Ohio State and Wisconsin Earn Weekly Football Honors

¬¬Following Week 8, the Offensive, Defensive, and Special Teams Players of the Week, and the Freshman of the Week in the Big Ten were announced this morning. Below are this week’s honorees:

Offensive Player of the Week
Chase Brown, Illinois
RB – So. – London, Ontario – St. Stephens Episcopal (Fla.)
• Rushed for 223 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries (6.76 avg.) in Illinois’ 20-18 upset win at then-No. 7 Penn State. Marked the most rushing yards ever by a player in a game at Beaver Stadium
• Has now rushed for more than 200 yards in two games this season, having also eclipsed the 200-yard plateau vs. Charlotte on Oct. 2 (257 yards). Joined Howard Griffith (1990) and Rashard Mendenhall (2007) as the only players in program history with multiple 200-yard rushing performances in a single season
• Is one of just three FBS players to register multiple 200-yard rushing games this season along with Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III and Missouri’s Tyler Badie
• Earns the second Offensive Player of the Week accolade of his career
• Last Illinois Offensive Player of the Week: Chase Brown (Oct. 4, 2021)

Defensive Player of the Week
Leo Chenal, Wisconsin
LB – Jr. – Grantsburg, Wis. – Grantsburg
• Registered nine tackles and a career-high 3.5 sacks in Wisconsin’s 30-13 win at then-No. 25 Purdue. Also set a career high with 5.5 tackles for loss
• His 3.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss marked the highest single-game totals by a Big Ten player this season and are tied for the second-most by an FBS player in a game this year
• Helped the Badgers defense hold the Boilermakers to -13 yards rushing, which is tied for the second-best performance against the run by a Badgers defense in program history. The only time that the Wisconsin defense has held an opponent to fewer rushing yards was in November 1951 when they held Iowa to -18 rushing yards
• Earns the first Defensive Player of the Week honor of his career
• Last Wisconsin Defensive Player of the Week: Chris Orr (Sept. 30, 2019)
Special Teams Player of the Week
Collin Larsh, Wisconsin
K – Sr. – Marshall, Wis. – Monona Grove (Wis.)
• Connected on all three of his field goal attempts in Wisconsin’s 30-13 win at then-No. 25 Purdue. Also made all three of his extra point attempts to register 12 points for the Badgers
• Made a pair of field goals in the second quarter (23 and 37 yards) to knot the game at 13-13 heading into halftime
• Tied his career long with a 43-yard field goal in the fourth quarter
• Earns the first Special Teams Player of the Week honor of his career
• Last Wisconsin Special Teams Player of the Week: Rafael Gaglianone (Sept. 5, 2016)

Freshman of the Week
C.J. Stroud, Ohio State
QB – Empire, Calif. – Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.)
• Completed 21 of 28 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns in three quarters of action during Ohio State’s 54-7 win at Indiana
• Threw three touchdown passes in the first half to help the Buckeyes build a 44-7 halftime lead
• Has now thrown 14 touchdown passes with zero interceptions in Ohio State’s last three games. Ranks second nationally in passer efficiency (192.8) and is tied for sixth in the country this season with 22 touchdown passes
• Earns the fifth Freshman of the Week honor of his career; was also named Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 11
• Last Ohio State Freshman of the Week: C.J. Stroud (Oct. 11, 2021)

2021 Big Ten Football Players of the Week

Aug. 30
O: Artur Sitkowski, So., QB, ILL
D: Calvin Hart Jr., So., LB, ILL
S: Blake Hayes, Sr., P, ILL
F: Deuce Spann, WR, ILL

Sept. 6
O: Kenneth Walker III, Jr., RB, MSU
D: Riley Moss, Sr., DB, IOWA
S: Jordan Stout, Sr., K/P, PSU
F: C.J. Stroud, QB, OSU

Sept. 13
O: Blake Corum, So., RB, MICH
D: Luke Reimer, So., LB, NEB
S: Adam Korsak, Sr., P, RU
S: Tory Taylor, So., P, IOWA
F: C.J. Stroud, QB, OSU

Sept. 20
O: Payton Thorne, So., QB, MSU
O: TreVeyon Henderson, Fr., RB, OSU
D: Brandon Smith, Jr., LB, PSU
S: Aron Cruickshank, Jr., WR, RU
S: Joseph Petrino, Sr., K, MD
F: TreVeyon Henderson, RB, OSU

Sept. 27
O: Sean Clifford, Sr., QB, PSU
O: Evan Hull, So., RB, NU
D: Jack Campbell, Jr., LB, IOWA
S: Jayden Reed, Jr., WR, MSU
F: Kyle McCord, QB, OSU

Oct. 4
O: Chase Brown, So., RB, ILL
D: David Ojabo, Jr., LB, MICH
D: JoJo Domann, Sr., LB, NEB
S: Mark Crawford, So., P, MINN
S: Jordan Stout, Sr., K/P, PSU
F: C.J. Stroud, QB, OSU

Oct. 11
O: Jalen Nailor, Jr., WR, MSU
O: C.J. Stroud, Fr., QB, OSU
D: Matt Hankins, Sr., DB, IOWA
D: Brad Hawkins, Gr., DB, MICH
S: Jacob Moody, Sr., K, MICH
F: C.J. Stroud, QB, OSU

Oct. 18
O: David Bell, Jr., WR, PUR
D: Cam Allen, Jr., S, PUR
S: Matt Coghlin, Gr., K, MSU
F: Braelon Allen, RB, WIS

Oct. 25
O: Chase Brown, So., RB, ILL
D: Leo Chenal, Jr. LB, WIS
S: Collin Larsh, Sr., K, WIS
F: C.J. Stroud, QB, OSU