OSU’s Cody Simon, Will Howard earn weekly Big Ten honors

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard and linebacker Cody Simon were honored by the Big Ten on Monday for their performances in Ohio State's 38-15 win over No. 5 Indiana last Saturday at Ohio Stadium. Howard is the league's co-Offensive Player of the Week, while Simon takes home Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Howard had yet another efficient outing on Saturday, completing 22-of-26 passes for 201 yards while accounting for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). He's the first quarterback in program history to complete at least 80 percent of his passes in six games during a season. Howard threw TD passes for Emeka Egbuka and Jelani Thurman, respectively, and also closed the scoring with a one-yard QB sneak in the fourth quarter.

Howard now leads the nation in completion percentage (74.0) and is second in quarterback efficiency (180.54). His 26 touchdown passes are tops among Big Ten quarterbacks and he's thrown multiple TD passes in 10-of-11 games so far.

Simon had a career day leading the Ohio State defense last Saturday. He finished with 10 tackles and added a career-high 2.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss as well as a forced fumble. His play helped limit Indiana, which entered the game with the nation's top scoring offense, to just 151 total yards. In fact, the Hoosiers gained just 81 total yards after their opening drive.

Simon is Ohio State's second-leading tackler through 11 games with 65 total stops to go along with eight tackles for loss and five sacks. He's been the leader of a defense that currently has top-five national rankings on scoring defense (first – 10.7 points allowed per game), total defense (first – 241.7 yards allowed per game), rushing defense (third – 90.0 yards allowed per game) and passing defense (fourth – 151.7 yards allowed per game).

The No. 2-ranked Buckeyes close the regular season on Saturday against rival Michigan inside Ohio Stadium. Kickoff is set for 12:14 p.m. in front of a national broadcast audience on FOX.

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.