Two Ohio State football players received Big Ten Conference awards this week after the Buckeyes’ 52-22 victory against Illinois on Saturday.
On the defensive side, sophomore linebacker Ryan Shazier received the Big Ten Conference’s defensive player of the week award for the second consecutive week.
Against the Illini, the Plantation, Fla., native had 14 tackles, two of which were tackles-for-loss. Shazier leads the Buckeyes with 99 stops on the season.
The Buckeyes’ triumph against Illinois saw Shazier pick up his fifth double-digit tackling game for the season and puts him one tackle away from becoming the first sophomore since former OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis in 2006 to top 100 tackles in a season.
Shazier, however, wasn’t the only Buckeye to earn conference honors.
On the offensive side, freshman running back Bri’onte Dunn was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week.
The Canton native had his career-best game over the weekend after rushing for 73 yards on 13 totes for an average of 5.6 yards per carry. Dunn scored a 3-yard touchdown for the Buckeyes against the Illini with 1:26 left in the fourth quarter.
Coach Urban Meyer applauded Dunn’s outing at a postgame press conference following OSU’s win.
“That Bri’onte Dunn, he’s a little looser with the ball, but I thought he ran very hard,” Meyer said.
Dunn is averaging 5.3 yards per carry on 25 rushes for 133 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Dunn, Shazier and the 10-0 Buckeyes have a bye Saturday but will travel to the confines of Camp Randall Stadium on Nov. 17 for a 3:30 p.m. game against the Wisconsin Badgers.