AMES, Iowa – Chase Contreraz has been named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. It is Contreraz’s second Big 12 weekly honor of the season and he is the only player in the league to be recognized for the special teams award twice.

Contreraz played a vital role in Iowa State’s 30-10 road victory over Cincinnati on Saturday. The Missouri Valley, Iowa native was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts – hitting twice from 30 yards out and once from 34 yards.

The senior also converted a critical fake field goal attempt with a six-yard rush up the middle on a drive that would eventually end as a Cyclone touchdown. It was Iowa State’s first rushing attempt by an upperclassman this season.

Contreraz was also 3-of-3 in the game on point-after attempts.

Iowa State is on bye this week – the Cyclones are back in action Oct. 28 at Baylor.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa student-athletes Max Murphy (men’s cross country) and Dionne van Aalsum (field hockey) were named September’s Student-Athletes of the Month, the Iowa Student-Athlete Advisory Committee announced.

Murphy, a junior from Bettendorf, Iowa, broke the school’s 6,000-meter program record by 13 seconds at the Hawkeye Invite on Sept. 1. His season-opening time of 17:57.7 earned him the individual championship and helped the Hawkeye men earn the team title. Murphy also placed 20th out of 147 runners at the Joe Piane Invite in South Bend, Ind. on Sept. 29.

Van Aalsum, a freshman midfielder, tallied and NCAA-best 18 goals and four assists in eight games in September. She also led the NCAA in goals per game (2.25), points (40) and points per game (5.00). The Castricum, Netherlands, native helped Iowa ascend to the No. 1 ranked team in the country. Van Aalsum had multi-goal games in six of seven contests, including four goals in two games (Central Michigan and UMass). Dating back to August, the freshman had eight consecutive multi-goal games to open her career.

She became the first Hawkeye to record a hat trick since Maddy Murphy vs. Indiana in 2019 and the first Hawkeye with four goals in a game since Kim Scraper vs. Brown in 2016. Van Aalsum secured multiple weekly honors, including the NFHCA Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 13 and Sept. 20, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11 and Sept. 18, and the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Sept. 5 and Sept. 11.

Following Week 7 contests, the Big Ten Conference Offensive, Defensive, and Co-Special Teams Players of the Week, and the Freshman of the Week were announced this morning. Below are this week’s honorees:

Offensive Player of the Week

J.J. McCarthy, Michigan

QB – Jr. – La Grange Park, Ill. – Nazareth Academy/IMG Academy

• Matched a career high with three touchdown passes, engineering six straight scoring drives with five touchdowns in the Wolverines’ 52-7 victory against Indiana
• Completed 14-of-17 attempts for 222 yards and three touchdowns, moving to 11th all-time in passing yards with 4,467 career passing yards
• Marked the first time the Wolverines have scored 50-plus points in back to back Big Ten games since 1975 and the first time in program history with 10 straight games with 30-plus points
• The Academic All-Big Ten honoree earns his first career Offensive Player of the Week award
• Last Michigan Offensive Player of the Week: Donovan Edwards (Nov. 28, 2022)

Defensive Players of the Week

Seth Coleman, Illinois

OLB – Jr. – Melbourne, Fla. – Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy

• Recorded six tackles, 3.0 sacks, 3.0 tackles for loss in Illinois’ 27-24 win at Maryland
• His 3.0 sacks are the most in a game by any Big Ten player this season
• First Illini to have 3.0+ sacks in a game since Owen Carney Jr. on Oct. 31, 2020, vs. Purdue
• Earns the first Defensive Player of the Week accolade of his career
• Last Illinois Defensive Player of the Week: Miles Scott (Sept. 5, 2023)

Co-Special Teams Players of the Week

Tory Taylor, Iowa

P – Sr. – Melbourne, Australia – Haileybury College

• Had 10 punts for a career-best 506 yards for a 50.6 average in the Hawkeyes’ 15-6 victory against Wisconsin
• Five punts traveled 50+ yards (two 60+ yard punts), including a 62-yarder, tying a season-long, and four that were downed inside the 20
• His 10 punts equaled a personal high
• Garners the second Special Teams Player of the Week honor of his career and second in as many weeks
• Last Iowa Special Teams Player of the Week: Tory Taylor (Oct. 9, 2023)

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https://bigten.org/news/2023/10/16/illinois-iowa-michigan-and-penn-state-earn-weekly-football-honors.aspx