Illinois, Nebraska, Ohio State and UCLA Earn Weekly Football Honors
Illini’s Olano, Huskers’ Singleton, Buckeyes’ Sayin and Bruins’ Iamaleava garner accolades
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Following Week 6 contests, the Big Ten Conference Football Players of the Week Presented by IFS.ai were announced Monday. Below are this week’s honorees:
Offensive Player of the Week
Nico Iamaleava, UCLA
QB – So. – Long Beach, Calif. – Warren
· Accounted for five touchdowns and 294 yards of total offense to lead UCLA to a 42-37 upset against No. 7 Penn State
· Set single-game career highs in rushing yards and touchdowns and tied a program record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback
· Led UCLA to the program’s first home win over a top 10 AP team since 2007, the most points allowed and rushing yards (269) by Penn State in a regular season game since 2022
· Had a 52-yard scramble in the third quarter, a career-long rush and UCLA’s longest play of the season
· Last UCLA Offensive Player of the Week: Ethan Garbers (Oct. 21, 2024)
Defensive Player of the Week
DeShon Singleton, Nebraska
S – Sr. – Greensburg, La. – St. Helena
· Led a Nebraska defense that produced three takeaways, including two interceptions by Singleton, in a win vs. Michigan State
· Became the first Husker to record a pair of interceptions in a game since 2023
· Added six tackles as Nebraska limited Michigan State to a total of 240 yards, including just 84 rushing yards
· Last Nebraska Defensive Player of the Week honoree: JoJo Domann (Oct. 4, 2021)
Special Teams Player of the Week
David Olano, Illinois
K – Jr. – Naperville, Ill. – Naperville North
· Perfect 5-for-5 on field goals and 4-for-4 on extra points to account for 19 points in #22 Illinois’ 47-23 road win at Purdue
· Most field goals made in a game by a Big Ten player this season and tied the Illinois record for field goals made in a game
· Second Illini ever and the first since 1982 to make five field goals in a road game
· Last Illinois Special Teams Players of the Week: David Olano (Sept. 29, 2025)
Freshman of the Week
Julian Sayin, Ohio State
QB – Carlsbad, Calif. – Carlsbad
· Completed 23 of 27 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in Ohio State’s 42-3 win over Minnesota
· He found Jeremiah Smith for touchdown scores of six and nine yards and Carnell Tate on a 44-yard play
· He completed 14 of 17 passes for 237 yards and two scores in the first half as Ohio State built a 21-3 lead, and then he was even sharper in a 21-point second half with nine completions in 10 attempts
· Leads the nation in completion percentage (80.2), is third in efficiency (196.99) and eighth in touchdown passes (13)
· Last Ohio State Freshman of the Week: Julian Sayin (Sept. 8, 2025)
2025 Big Ten Football Players of the Week (presented by IFS.ai)
Sept. 1
O: Jayden Maiava, USC
O: Jonah Coleman, WASH
D: Preston Zachman, WIS
ST: Hank Beatty, ILL
F: Malik Washington, MD
Sept. 8
O: Aidan Chiles, MSU
O: Jonah Coleman, WASH
D: Jordan Hall, MSU
ST: Spencer Porath, PUR
F: Julian Sayin, OSU
Sept. 15
O: Omar Cooper Jr., IND
D: Jerry Mixon, ORE
ST: Kaden Wetjen, IOWA
F: Bryce Underwood, MICH
Sept. 22
O: Fernando Mendoza, IND
O: Demond Williams Jr., WASH
D: Daniel Wingate, MD
ST: Kaden Wetjen, IOWA
ST: Dominic Zvada, MICH
F: Malik Washington, MD
Sept. 29
O: Luke Altmyer, ILL
O: Dante Moore, ORE
D: Caden Curry, OSU
ST: David Olano, ILL
F: Drake Lindsey, MINN
Oct. 6
O: Nico Iamaleava, UCLA
D: DeShon Singleton, NEB
ST: David Olano, ILL
F: Julian Sayin, OSU
