Gophers Dominate Big Ten Weekly Honors
Minneapolis, MN (KROC-AM News) - The University of Minnesota Gopher Football team took down Penn State over the weekend, and two players earned co-weekly honors after their performance.
Quarterback Tanner Morgan was recognized as the Co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, while Antoine Winfield was named Co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, according to Gophersports.com
Morgan completed 18-of-20 passes (90%) and threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns in the win as Minnesota moved to 9-0 for the first time since 1904. In the win, Morgan became just the second FBS quarterback in the past 20 seasons to have multiple games in a single season completing 90 percent of his passes (min. 20 attempts), as he also completed 21-of-22 passes for a career-high 396 yards and four touchdowns at Purdue on Sept. 28. Florida State's Jameis Winston is the only other quarterback to accomplish the feat, doing so during his Heisman Trophy-winning campaign in 2013.
Winfield led Minnesota with a team-high 11 tackles (9 solo) and made two interceptions and totaled 33 return yards in the win. Winfield's two interceptions led to 14 points for the Gophers in the 31-26 win. He now has seven interceptions on the year, which ties Minnesota's school record set by Jeff Wright during the 1970 season. Winfield was also named the Walter Camp FBS National Defensive Player of the Week for his performance.
Morgan was honored by the conference for the third (one freshman, two offensive) time in his career, while Winfield was recognized for the fourth (one special, three defensive) time.
Minnesota has now had eight players named Big Ten Player of the Week this year, which ties a school record that the Gophers set last season.
The Gophers are back in action against Iowa Saturday with kickoff slated for 3 p.m.