Big Ten names Players of the Week after Week 4
Illinois kicked off last week’s Big Ten slate with a thrilling statement win at Nebraska. Ohio State and Penn State cruised by Marshall and Kent State, respectively. Michigan was the conference’s biggest winner of the week, holding off USC in The Big House.
Rutgers remained undefeated, as did Indiana. Michigan State lost to Boston College, and Purdue dropped a winnable out-of-conference game, too, falling to Oregon State.
A lot happened across the 18-team Big Ten. And the conference recognized its top performers from the weekend Monday.
The Big Ten handed out Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, Special Teams Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week accolades. On3 is highlighting each of those honorees and their Week 4 outings.
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Big Ten Co-Offensive Players of the Week: Illinois QB Luke Altmyer & Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson
Dylan Raiola was in the spotlight during last Friday’s top-25 showdown between Illinois and Nebraska. But it was Luke Altmyer, the Fighting Illini’s quarterback, who emerged victorious in Lincoln. Altmyer led Illinois to its second win over a ranked opponent this season, this time getting the job done in overtime. He completed 21-of-27 passes for 215 yards and four touchdowns, including the game-winner in the extra frame. Illinois is off to a 4-0 start for just the second time since 1951, and Altmyer is at the heart of that success — he’s the only quarterback in the country with at least 10 touchdown passes and zero interceptions this season.
Altmyer is sharing Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors with Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson, who piled up 206 rushing yards and a trio of touchdowns in a 31-14 win over Minnesota, both career highs. Johnson has now turned in four straight 100-yard games on the ground.
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week: Michigan DE Josaiah Stewart
Michigan’s defensive tackle pairing of Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham gets a lot of attention, but defensive end Josaiah Stewart is the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after his monster performance during a 27-24 victory over then-No. 11 USC.
Stewart tallied four tackles, three of which he recorded behind the line of scrimmage. The senior sacked Trojans quarterback Miller Moss twice and forced one fumble. Stewart leads the Wolverines with four sacks this season. He’s also tied for first among all Big Ten players with 6.5 tackles for loss.
Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week: Michigan P Tommy Doman
Michigan passed for only 32 yards in its win over USC. It’s margin for error was thin in a run-dominant performance. Punter Tommy Doman helped the Wolverines win the field position battle and headlined the special teams operation with a career-high eight punts. That included five 50-plus-yard punts, a single-game personal best and a feat that hadn’t been achieved by a Michigan punter since at least 1997, and he landed a total of four punts inside the USC 20-yard line.
Perhaps most notably, Doman catapulted a season-long 58-yard boot to pin the Trojans at their 10-yard line to open up the final quarter of play.
Big Ten Freshman of the Week: Washington LB Khmori House
In Week 3 against Washington State, Washington true freshman linebacker Khmori House made his first career start. Then, this past weekend in Week 4, he earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolades. House posted three tackles and notched an interception, which he returned 19 yards, in a 24-5 win over Northwestern.
He’s already collected 88 defensive snaps this season, according to Pro Football Focus. House is a Pasadena, California, native and played his high school ball at St. John Bosco, where he totaled 72 tackles with two sacks and eight tackles for loss as a senior.