Ohio State upset earns Penn State majority of B1G Player of the Week awards
Beating the No. 2 team in the country is a collective effort, but it usually takes a few heroes.
Penn State certainly had plenty of those on Saturday.
As a result, the Lions dominated the B1G weekly award winners. Three of the five honorees were Lions. Two of them actually shared one award.
That, of course, was Marcus Allen and Grant Haley. They picked up B1G Special Teams Player of the Week honors after they combined for the go-ahead block field goal touchdown return that sent Beaver Stadium into a frenzy:
PSU linebacker Brandon Bell earned B1G Defensive Player of the Week honors for his huge role in taking down the Buckeyes. He recorded a career-high 18 tackles, one sack and one pass break-up. Three of those tackles came on Ohio State’s failed final drive. It marked the second time in three weeks that a PSU player earned the B1G’s weekly defensive award.
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The non-PSU award recipients were both tailbacks.
Minnesota’s Rodney Smith picked up B1G Offensive Player of the Week honors for racking up a career-high 257 all-purpose yards, which was the most by a Gopher in eight years. He delivered a huge 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter right after Rutgers made it a one-score game. He finished with 138 yards from scrimmage and a score.
Maryland’s Lorenzo Harrison earned the B1G Freshman of the Week honor after his first 100-yard game. He Terps tailback finished with 105 rushing yards on a career-high 17 carries. The was the first Terp to ever be named B1G Freshman of the Week.