Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio State and Oregon Earn Weekly Football Honors
Illini’s Altmyer and Olano, Gophers’ Lindsey, Buckeyes’ Curry and Ducks’ Moore garner accolades
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Following Week 5 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
Luke Altmyer, Illinois
QB – Sr. – Starkville, Miss. – Starkville
- Accounted for four touchdowns and 359 yards of offense in No. 23 Illinois’ 34-32 win against No. 21 USC, becoming the first player to have 300+ passing yards, a passing touchdown, a rushing, and a receiving touchdown in a Big Ten game in at least 30 years
- Finished with 328 passing yards and completed 20 of his 26 passes, while adding 28 yards on the ground
- First player to record a rushing, receiving, and passing touchdown in a Big Ten game since 2011 (Vincent Smith, Michigan vs. Minnesota)
- Engineered his national-leading sixth game-winning drive in the final minute or overtime over the last three seasons
- Last Illinois Offensive Player of the Week: Aidan Laughery (Dec. 2, 2024)
Dante Moore, Oregon
QB – So. – Detroit, Mich. – Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School
- Led No. 6 Oregon to a thrilling 30-24 win at No. 3 Penn State in double overtime, the program’s eighth win ever against a top-three opponent and first on the road since 2021
- Completed 29-of-39 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 35 yards
- Threw two touchdown passes in overtime, including a 25-yard score in the second OT that proved to be the game winner
- In five games as Oregon’s starting quarterback, has completed 100-of-134 passes (74.6%) for 1,210 yards and 14 touchdowns with just one interception
- Last Oregon Offensive Player of the Week: Dillon Gabriel (Oct. 14, 2024)
Defensive Player of the Week
Caden Curry, Ohio State
DE – Sr. – Greenwood, Ind. – Center Grove
- Recorded personal bests of 11 tackles, nine solo tackles, five tackles-for-loss and three quarterback sacks as Ohio State limited the Huskies to 234 yards of total offense and six points
- Tied the school record with his five TFLs, a mark he now shares with the likes of Chase Young, Ryan Shazier, John Simon and Andy Katzenmoyer
- Ranks third nationally with 8.0 TFLs on the season and fourth nationally with 5.0 sacks
- He also leads Ohio State in tackles with 25
- Last Ohio State Defensive Player of the Week honoree: Cody Simon (Nov. 24, 2024)
Special Teams Player of the Week
David Olano, Illinois
K – Jr. – Naperville, Ill. – Naperville North
- Kicked a walk-off 41-yard field goal to give No. 23 Illinois a 34-32 win against No. 21 USC
- Made all six kicks, with two field goals (45, 41) and four extra points
- Made the third game-winning field goal in Illinois history kicked with the Illini trailing as time expired
- Last Illinois Special Teams Players of the Week: Hank Beatty (Sept.1, 2025)
Freshman of the Week
Drake Lindsey, Minnesota
QB – Fayetteville, Ark. – Fayetteville
- Completed 31-of-41 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns in Minnesota’s 31-28 win against Rutgers
- Led Minnesota on a seven-play, 72-yard drive over the course of 3:05 to give Minnesota the lead with a four-yard touchdown pass to Javon Tracy
- His 31 completions were tied for the fifth most in program history and his 41 attempts were the fourth-most since 1995 without an interception
- Since 1995, no Minnesota quarterback has completed 31 passes, attempted 41 passes, thrown for 324 yards and thrown for three touchdowns
- Last Minnesota Freshman of the Week: Koi Perich (Oct. 28, 2024)
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
