Sept. 12, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the 11th time in school history, a pair of Northwestern players have earned Big Ten Conference Player of the Week honors.
Tyrell Sutton (Akron, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) and Marquice Cole (Hazel Crest, Ill./Hillcrest) both earned their first Big Ten honor for their performances in Saturday's win over Northern Illinois. Sutton, who was named the league's Offensive Player of the Week, bettered his 104-yard, two-TD debut against Ohio with a 214-yard, four-TD effort on Saturday. His four rushing TD's tied a school record held by several NU players. Sutton also caught two passes for 16 yards, giving him 230 all-purpose yards. His 214 yard-performance was the 14th-best effort in NU history. Sutton's fourth TD of the game -- a 5-yard run with 62 seconds remaining proved to be the game's winning points.
Cole returned a punt 81 yards for a score and finished with 101 punt return yards. His 81-yard return was the fourth-longest in NU history. Cole also starred on defense, notching a 23-yard interception return and defending the intended receiver on Northern Illinois' two-point conversion attempt with two seconds to play, which could have given NIU the win. Cole also added eight tackles (six solos) and a pass breakup.
Eight of the 11 times that Northwestern has had two players earn Big Ten honors for the same game, one of the two recipients was a special teams performer.
The Big Ten began its player-of-the-week awards in 1987.