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Week 7 B1G Players of the Week
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Jalen Watts-Jackson went out on top.
He won’t play another game this year after undergoing hip surgery on Sunday, but its safe to say that the Michigan State redshirt freshman ended his season on the highest note possible.
For his 10-second miracle fumble return, Watts-Jackson earned B1G Special Teams Player of the Week honors. He was one of two Spartans that cracked the B1G weekly awards.
Here were the selections for Week 7:
B1G Offensive Player of the Week: Akrum Wadley, Iowa RB
B1G Defensive Player of the Week: Shilique Calhoun, Michigan State DE
B1G Special Teams Player of the Week: Jalen Watts-Jackson, Michigan DB
B1G Freshman of the Week: T.J. Edwards, Wisconsin LB
Watts-Jackson’s teammate, Calhoun, picked up his second weekly honor this season and third of his career. His career-best 3.5 tackles for loss held Michigan’s run-heavy offense to less than three yards per carry. He also had two sacks of Jake Rudock to keep the Spartans alive.
For the second straight week, an Iowa running back earned offensive player of the week honor. Wadley, who had eight career carries entering Saturday, tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns and led Iowa to a 40-10 rout of Northwestern. He shined in the absence of Jordan Canzeri, who went down in the first half with a leg injury.
Edwards also had a career day. The first-year linebacker had a game-high 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and he forced a fumble. Thanks to Edwards, who also made a game-saving tackle of DeAngelo Yancey, Purdue was held to a season-low 191 total yards. He’s part of a unit that ranks third in FBS in scoring.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.