Purdue Football: Jones’ Monster Game Nets POW
WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue running back Markell Jones had a highlight reel game against Indiana on Saturday, and the Big Ten Conference noticed. Jones was named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week to cap a huge weekend for the junior back and his Boilermaker teammates.
Jones rushed 31 times for 217 yards, both career highs, in Purdue’s 31-24 win over their in-state rivals. Of his yardage, 159 of those came in the second half. The win brought the Old Oaken Bucket back to West Lafayette for the first time in five years.
The outing was the first 200-yard rushing game since Ralph Bolden rushed for 234 yards against Toledo on Sept. 5, 2009. It was Jones’ fourth career 100-yard rushing game and he now had a chance to break 2,000 yards for his career, sitting at 1,968 yards with a bowl game in Purdue’s future.
The award is the first for Jones, and the first since current Boilermaker quarterback David Blough won the OPOW award on Nov. 2, 2015.
Joining Jones as Offensive Player of the Week was Akrum Wadley of Iowa, who rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns in Iowa’s win over Nebraska. It is the third time Wadley has been named Offensive Player of the Week in his career.
Rounding out the Player of the Week honors in the Big Ten, Ohio State defensive end Sam Hubbard was named Defensive Player of the Week after the Buckeyes won at Michigan, and Northwestern punter Hunter Niswander was tabbed the Special Teams Player of the Week after a solid performance in the Wildcats win at Illinois.
Freshman of the Week was a repeat performer in Jonathan Taylor, who earned his seventh consecutive and eighth such honor this season. Taylor rushed for 149 yards and scored a touchdown to keep Wisconsin undefeated in a shutout win at Minnesota. Taylor has rushed for 1,806 yards this season, the third-most by a freshman in FBS history on behind fellow Badger Ron Dayne (2,109 – 1996) and Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson (1,925 – 2004).