After knocking off Michigan, Iowa dominates B1G Player of the Week awards
There are a few perks of pulling off a massive upset.
Besides being the toast of the town, a team gets to be the feel-good story of the day. They get to listen to national pundits praise them for taking down Goliath. And when it comes to handing out weekly awards, they’re sure to get plenty of those, too.
Iowa was no exception.
After overcoming a double-digit deficit and handing Michigan its first-loss of the season, the Hawkeyes dominated the B1G weekly honors. Three of the five awards went to Hawkeyes.
The hero of the game, Keith Duncan, picked up the B1G Special Teams Player of the Week honor. His game-winning kick sent Kinnick Stadium into a frenzy on Saturday night:
Duncan was put in that position because of the defensive play of Jaleel Johnson and Manny Rugamba.
Johnson earned B1G Defensive Player of the Week honors for recording a career-high nine tackles and two tackles for loss, including a safety, against Michigan’s high-powered offense. Johnson’s dominance up front held Michigan to less than 1/3 of its average offensive output.
Part of that was a credit to Rugamba, who shut down the Wolverines’ passing game. In his first career start, the cornerback earned co-B1G Freshman of the Week honors. Rugamba picked off Wilton Speight and racked up a career-high three pass breakups.
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Rugamba shared that award with Northwestern’s John Moten. He earned his first weekly honor after finishing with 139 all-purpose yards in a rout of Purdue. His 119 yards rushing were a career-high.
The B1G Offensive Player of the Week award went to a player whose contributions went far beyond the box score. On a banged-up ankle, Tommy Armstrong delivered three touchdowns for Nebraska in a 24-17 victory against Minnesota. Somehow, the senior quarterback racked up 339 yards from scrimmage in one of the grittier performances we’ve seen all year. That was his second time winning the award in 2016.