Ohio State’s fifth-year leaders, Will Howard and Cody Simon were recognized on Monday by the Big Ten, for their impressive performances in a 38-15 win over Indiana.
The conference named Howard a Co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week with Illinois receiver Pat Bryant, while Simon was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
Additionally, Ohio State named running back Treveyon Henderson an offensive player of the game with Howard, while Simon took the Defensive Player of the Game honors, and Downs with his 79-yard return touchdown was the Special Teams Player of the Game, as announced on the team’s twitter account on Sunday.
The Buckeyes only managed 315 total yards against Indiana, but this was partially due to the slow tempo of the game. Neither Howard nor Henderson had eye-popping numbers but both players were effective with the ball in their hands. In 26 pass attempts, Howard completed 22 passes for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns. Howard didn’t have a huge day running the football, as he finished the game with five carries for -1 yard, but he added a 1-yard touchdown in the last minute of the game on a QB sneak.
Howard’s touchdown run wouldn’t have happened without the selflessness of Henderson. On a game-long 39-yard run, Henderson broke through the Indiana front seven with a clear path to the end zone ahead of him. Rather than scoring the touchdown, Henderson slid down at the 1-yard line most likely to give the Buckeyes the option of running more time off the clock.
Henderson’s run was Ohio State’s longest play of the game and made him Ohio State’s leading rusher in the game with 68 yards on nine carries and a touchdown.
Simon was an easy pick to be the team and conference’s defensive player of the week. Simon came up with a career-high 2.5 sacks, all of which were recorded in the first half, a forced fumble and also led the team with 10 total tackles.
Despite all of the great plays made from his teammates in the convincing win, Downs’ 79-yard return was the biggest of them all. With Ohio State up 14-7, Downs flashed his quickness and speed in navigating around Hoosiers to get to the end zone to give his team a 21-7 lead.
Downs’ punt return touchdown was the Buckeyes’ first since a 54-yard punt return touchdown by receiver Jalin Marshall, which took place almost exactly 10 years prior to Downs’ touchdown on Nov. 22, 2014.
