Lankford-Johnson, Dellinger Win B1G Honors

Saturday’s win at Illinois is bearing fruit in terms of conference recognition for a pair of Purdue freshmen. Both Brian Lankford-Johnson and J.D. Dellinger received Player of the Week honors from the Big Ten this morning.

First is Dellinger, who was honored as the Big Ten special Teams Player of the Week. He was 2 of 2 on field goals ot move to 4 of 7 ont he season, but his 28-yard game-winner was the first game-winning field goal in overtime in Purdue history. His 37-yard field goal in the third quarter was also a career long and it was the longest field goal made by a Purdue kicker since Paul Griggs hit from 53 yards against Wisconsin in November 2014. His honor is the first Special teams honor for Purdue since Paul Griggs in that same Wisconsin game on November 10, 2014.

Next we have Lankford-Johnson, who was named Freshman of the Week in his first career start after rushing for 127 yards and a touchdown. He left the game late with a shoulder injury, but he still took home the award while also adding 43 yards on two kickoff returns and 12 receiving yards, tallying a game-high 182 all-purpose yards. It is the first Freshman of the Week award for a Purdue players since Frankie Williams won in November 2012.