Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio State and Oregon Earn Weekly Football Honors

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