There are generally two ways to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors: put up crazy statistics or play a key role in a significant victory. Iowa's stunning upset of Michigan certainly qualifies several guys for consideration under option two, and the Big Ten has rewarded them accordingly.
First up: Jaleel Johnson, named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week:
The #B1G names DT Jaleel Johnson their Defensive Player of the Week after his big game Saturday night: 9 Tackles, 2 TFL, 1 Sack | #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/hoYkDs9rud
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) November 14, 2016
Honestly, for a defensive tackle, those stats are pretty crazy: nine tackles? He led Iowa in tackles on Saturday night! Two of those tackles went for a loss and one was a sack. The other was his hugely important safety in the second quarter, which provided Iowa with their first points of the game and gave them a much-needed spark in the game.
It was a huge, huge play for Iowa (and their first safety since 2014!). But while that may have been the splashiest play that Jaleel made in the game, it wasn't the only one -- he was a consistently disruptive force throughout the game. The interior of Michigan's offensive line had few answers for him. Michigan ran for just 98 total yards rushing (after sacks), by far their lowest total of the season. Jaleel was a big reason why they struggled to get things going in the running game. Under the bright lights and on the big stage, Jaleel Johnson had the best game of his Iowa career.
Next up: the final hero of Saturday's victory, walk-on true freshman kicker, Keith Duncan:
Keith Duncan's last second game winner earns him #B1G Special Teams Player of the Week honors | #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/ffROPL8iO7
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) November 14, 2016
Duncan made both of his field goals, although one of them was just a bit more pressure-packed than the other. He drilled it, though, and in doing so joined Rob Houghtlin and Daniel Murray in Hawkeye history. Duncan, whose unique path to Iowa we talked about yesterday, has a very specialized role on this Iowa team -- he doesn't handle kickoffs or long field goals (his long this year is 41 yards). He only handles extra points and field goals within around 40 yards. But he's converted all 30 of his extra points (helpful for an Iowa team that doesn't always score all that much) and converted eight of his nine field goal tries. Saturday night he made the biggest kick of his life and the kick that ensures he'll always be remembered in Iowa City. Not too bad, kid. Do you want to watch the kick again? Of course you do.
While Duncan's honor is well-deserved, I think the Big Ten also could have named co-Special Teams Players of the Week and also honored Iowa punter Ron Coluzzi. I talked about his vital -- and incredible -- second quarter punt earlier today, but he had some excellent punts all day. Overall, he punted six times for 282 yards, a sizzling 47 yards per punt average, and put four of those six punts inside the Michigan 20-yard line, including three inside the 10-yard line. Those kicks were huge in the field position battle. He also limited the damage of Jabril Peppers, Michigan's incredibly dangerous return man; Peppers was able to return only one of Coluzzi's kicks, and he managed 19 yards on that return thanks to some dazzling moves, suggesting the danger Iowa could have been in without Coluzzi's tremendous kicks.
My enduring memory of Coluzzi's performance on Saturday is not going to be the goofy somersault on the botched punt early in the game, but rather on him booming punt after punt near the Michigan end zone. The combination of Iowa's (not good) offense and Michigan's (very good) defense was always likely to produce some poor results for the Iowa offense; Iowa's ability to win the game was going to rely on the defense and special teams. That's exactly what happened and Coluzzi's strong performance was a big reason why.
Finally, true freshman cornerback Manny Rugamba also earned honors this week, being named Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week, along with Northwestern running back John Moten IV (who had 139 all-purpose yards against Purdue).
After recording 1 INT & 3 PBU in his first career start Saturday night, Manny Rugamba earns #B1G Freshman of the Week honors | #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/TDQXWP69pt
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) November 14, 2016
Rugamba has seen a lot of action this year, but mainly in Iowa's nickel and dime coverage packages. On Saturday, he was called upon to start after regular starter Greg Mabin suffered an injury during the week. His first career start was one to remember: he recorded four tackles and three pass break-ups (both career highs) and notched an incredible interception late in the fourth quarter.
The interception, where Rugamba somehow tore the ball away from Michigan receiver Jehu Chesson after he appeared to have a first-down securing catch, stopped a drive that seemed likely to end in additional Michigan points (giving them either a 16-11 lead and requiring Iowa to somehow score a touchdown to win, or a 20-11 lead that would have all but ended the game) and with the clock bled down even closer to zero. Iowa ended up turning the ball over on a C.J. Beathard interception a few plays later, but that doesn't detract from how important Rugamba's interception was for Iowa.
Overall, Rugamba showed impressive athletic ability and instincts; while he was beaten a few times, his athleticism often enabled him to get back into the play and have an impact. He showed some incredible speed, leaping ability, and timing on one of his pass break-ups, narrowly deflecting what would otherwise have been a huge pass play for Michigan. Rugamba seems all but certain to be one of Iowa's starting corners next season -- based on what we've seen this year, it should be a whole lot of fun to watch him develop and harass Big Ten receivers.
Congratulations to Johnson, Duncan, and Rugamba for being honored by the Big Ten.
