Indiana, Maryland, Oregon and Minnesota Earn Weekly Football Honors

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Following Week 3 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
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana
QB – Sr. – Oakville, Ontario – Holy Trinity

• Threw for 307 yards on 25-of-33 passing with four touchdowns and zero interceptions
• His 300 yards passing and 25 completions were the most by a Hoosier since 2022, and four touchdown passes were the most by an Indiana signal caller since 2020
• Went 9-for-9 passing on third down for 128 yards with six passes going for a first down and two for touchdowns
• Helped Indiana to its largest margin of victory over a Big Ten opponent since 2019 and its largest margin of victory in a Big Ten road game since 2001
• Last Indiana Offensive Player of the Week: Stevie Scott (Nov. 30, 2020)

Defensive Player of the Week
Dante Trader Jr. – Maryland
DB – Sr. – Delmar, Del. – McDonogh  

• Led the Terps with a career-high tying 11 tackles, an interception and a pass break-up in Maryland's 27-13 win at Virginia
• Helped Maryland’s defense hold the Cavaliers to 0 points and only 82 yards in the second half
• His interception was the fifth of his career
• Last Maryland Defensive Player of the Week: Tarheeb Still (Nov. 13, 2023)

Special Teams Player of the Week
Atticus Sappington, Oregon
K – Jr. – Portland, Ore. – Central Catholic

• Helped Oregon to a 49-14 win over Oregon State by going 2-for-2 on field goals and 5-for-5 on extra points
• Kicked off eight times with five touchbacks
• Made field goals of 25 and 39 yards
• Last Oregon Special Teams Players of the Week: Tez Johnson (Sept. 9, 2024)

Freshman of the Week
Kerry Brown, Minnesota
DB – Naples, Fla. – Naples

• Tallied the first two interceptions of his career in a 27-0 win against Nevada and 17 return yards, all on his second interception
• It was the first multi-interception game for a Gopher since 2023
• First Minnesota freshman since at least 1990 to have multiple interceptions in a game
• Both interceptions led directly to 10 Minnesota points
• Finished the game with four tackles and two interceptions as Minnesota limited Nevada to 172 total yards
• Last Minnesota Freshman of the Week: Zach Evans (Oct. 2, 2023)

2024 Big Ten Football Players of the Week
Sept. 2
O: Miller Moss, R-Jr., QB, USC
D: Kevin Winston Jr., Jr., S, PSU
ST: Mateen Bhaghani, So., K, UCLA
ST: Dominic Zvada, Jr., K, MICH
F: Dylan Raiola, Fr., QB, NEB

Sept. 9
O: Kyle Monangai, Sr., RB, RU
D: Xavier Scott, Jr., DB, ILL
ST: Tez Johnson, Sr., WR, ORE
F: Nick Marsh, Fr., WR, MSU

Sept. 16
O: Kurtis Rourke, Sr., QB, IND
D: Dante Trader Jr., Sr., DB, MD
ST: Atticus Sappington, Jr., K, ORE
F: Kerry Brown, R-Fr., DB, MINN