Indiana, Michigan, Penn State and USC Earn Weekly Football Honors
Hoosiers’ Mendoza, Wolverines’ Marsh, Nittany Lions’ Allen and Dennis-Sutton, along with Trojans’ Sayeri garner accolades
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Following Week 12 contests, the Big Ten Conference Football Players of the Week Presented by IFS.ai were announced Monday. Below are this week’s honorees:
Co-Offensive Players of the Week
Fernando Mendoza, Indiana
QB – Jr. – Miami, Fla. – Christopher Columbus
- Connected on 22-of-24 passes for 299 yards and four touchdowns in the Hoosiers’ win against Wisconsin
- Led five total scoring drives, with four ending in passing scores and one in a field goal that gave IU a 10-3 lead entering halftime
- Engineered a nine-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half and give IU a 10-point lead it would not relinquish
- Helped Indiana win a program-record-tying 11th victory and finish the season undefeated at home and set an IU single-season mark for touchdown passes with his 30th of the season in the fourth quarter to Omar Cooper Jr.
- Last Indiana Offensive Player of the Week: Fernando Mendoza (Sept. 22, 2025)
Kaytron Allen, Penn State
RB – Sr. – Norfolk, Va. – IMG Academy
- Finished the game with a career-high 181 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, averaging 7.2 yards per rush
- Allen was the first Nittany Lion to rush for 180+ yards since Journey Brown rushed for 202 yards against Memphis in the 2019 Cotton Bowl
- Scored on an eight-yard rush in the first quarter and added a 26-yard touchdown rush in the fourth quarter
- Allen now has 3,794 career rushing yards, trailing only Saquon Barkley (3,843; 2015-17) and Evan Royster (3,932; 2007-10) for the Penn State career rushing record
- Last Penn State Offensive Player of the Week: Tyler Warren (Nov. 18, 2024)
Defensive Player of the Week
Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State
DE – Sr. – Millsboro, Del. – McDonogh School
- Tallied two sacks for his ninth career game with multiple tackles for loss and fourth career game with multiple sacks in Penn State’s win against Michigan State
- He secured a solo sack in the third quarter
- Added a sack in the fourth quarter
- Owns 31 career tackles for loss and 21 career sacks
- Last Penn State Defensive Player of the Week honoree: Abdul Carter (Sept. 30, 2024)
Special Teams Player of the Week
Ryon Sayeri, USC
K – Fr. – West Hills, Calif. – Chaminade
- Kicked two field goals (40 and 28) and three PATs for a total of nine points in USC’s 26-21 victory over No. 21 Iowa in the rain
- Recorded six kickoffs for 388 yards (64.7 avg.) and three touchbacks
- He has the fifth-best field goal percentage in the nation with 94.4% accuracy going 17-of-18 and he’s second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage
- Sayeri is 6-of-6 in field goals versus ranked AP or CFP opponents, and he’s 6-of-6 over 40+ yards
- Last USC Special Teams Player of the Week honoree: Ryon Sayeri (Nov. 3, 2025)
Freshman of the Week
Andrew Marsh, Michigan
WR – Katy, Texas – Katy Jordan
- Recorded 12 catches and 189 yards, both of which are single-game records among Michigan freshmen (since at least 1979), in Michigan’s victory against Northwestern at Wrigley Field
- Eclipsed 100 receiving yards at 13:50 in the second quarter with a 32-yard catch down the sideline, marking Marsh’s second career 100-yard game (138 at USC)
- Marsh is the first U-M freshman wide receiver to record multiple 100-yard performances since 2009 (Roy Roundtree; redshirt freshman)
- Surpassed his career high in receptions (previous: eight) with nine catches in the first half alone
- Last Michigan Freshman of the Week: Bryce Underwood (Sept. 15, 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
Oct. 13
O: Demond Williams Jr., WASH
D: Aiden Fisher, IND
ST: Jack Olsen, NU
F: King Miller, USC
Oct. 20
O: Julian Sayin, OSU
D: Xavier Nwankpa, IOWA
ST: Mateen Bhaghani, UCLA
F: Julian Sayin, OSU
Oct. 27
O: Justice Haynes, MICH
O: Denzel Boston, WASH
D: Jimmy Rolder, MICH
ST: Kenneth Williams, NEB
ST: Jai Patel, RU
F: Jordon Davison, ORE
Nov. 3
O: Luke Altmyer, ILL
O: Jordan Marshall, MICH
D: Arvell Reese, OSU
ST: Ryon Sayeri, USC
F: Julian Sayin, OSU
Nov. 10
O: Emmett Johnson, NEB
D: Cooper Catalano, WIS
ST: Atticus Sappington, ORE
F: TJ Lateef, NEB
F: Mason Posa, WIS
Nov. 17
O: Fernando Mendoza, IND
O: Kaytron Allen, PSU
D: Dani Dennis-Sutton, PSU
ST: Ryon Sayeri, USC
F: Andrew Marsh, MICH
