Wilton Speight, Curtis Samuel highlight B1G weekly awards
On Saturday, two B1G players lit up the scoreboard for their respective top-six teams.
Both were big play machines, and both led their teams to blowout victories.
Not surprisingly, Wilton Speight and Curtis Samuel both picked up some B1G weekly honors. The Michigan quarterback and the Ohio State H-back shared co-B1G Offensive Player of the Week honors for their brilliance on Saturday.
Speight set a Michigan record with 292 first-half passing yards. The first-year starter finished the day with a career-high 362 passing yards, two TD passes and one rushing score in Michigan’s 59-3 win against Maryland.
Samuel earned the honor after lighting up Nebraska for 137 receiving yards, 41 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The explosive H-back did all of that on just 13 touches.
He even caught a jump pass for a score:
The three other weekly honors were all claimed by B1G underclassmen.
Illinois’ Tre Watson earned B1G Defensive Player of the Week honors after finishing with a career-high 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss in Illinois’ victory against Michigan State. He was the first Illini player to claim that honor since 2011.
Another sophomore, Minnesota kicker Emmit Carpenter, picked up B1G Special Teams Player of the Week honors. Two of Carpenter’s three field goals were from 50-plus yards, and he made all five extra points in a win against Purdue. That was the second time this season Carpenter received the weekly nod.
The B1G Freshman of the Week honor made a little history. That award went to Penn State guard Connor McGovern, who paved the way for the Lions’ 599 yards of offense in a rout of Iowa. That was the highest total for the program in 11 years. He also did something only two B1G offensive linemen had ever done.
.@Condor_McGovern is just 3rd OL to win B1G weekly honors in B1G history, joining OSU’s Korey Stringer (1994) and MSU’s Sean Poole (2004).
— Kris Petersen (@GoPSUKris) November 7, 2016