Penn State’s Windsor Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week; Pitt’s Ollison and Morrissey Earn ACC Player of the Week Honors

Chris Rossetti

Chris Rossetti

Published November 13, 2018 5:16 am
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State junior defensive tackle Robert Windsor (Fond du Lac, Wis.) earned his first Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award after his performance against his home-state Wisconsin Badgers. He is the second Nittany Lion to win defensive weekly honors this season (Yetur Gross-Matos vs. Iowa).

(Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)

Windsor was a key cog in the Penn State defense that held the Badgers to their fewest points (10) since 2016 and fewest passing yards (60) since 2014 in a 22-10 win Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Windsor finished second on the team with a career-high-tying six tackles, including a personal-best 2.0 sacks. Windsor’s previous personal mark for sacks was 1.5 against Illinois earlier this season. After allowing 79 yards on Wisconsin’s opening possession, the Nittany Lion defense buckled down to allow just 190 yards the rest of the game. The 269 yards of total offense for Wisconsin is 178.2 yards below the Badgers’ season average (447.2). The Penn State defensive line accounted for five sacks, led by Windsor’s 2.0 quarterback hits. Entering the game, Wisconsin had only allowed 13 sacks all season.

TWO PITT PLAYERS HONORED BY ACC

PITTSBURGH — Pitt’s historic offensive production in its 52-22 win over Virginia Tech was recognized by the Atlantic Coast Conference today when senior running back Qadree Ollison and sophomore center Jimmy Morrissey were named ACC Players of the Week at their respective positions.

Ollison was named the ACC’s Running Back of the Week, while Morrissey was recognized as the Offensive Lineman of the Week.

The pair spearheaded a Pitt attack that produced a school-record 654 yards in total offense, eclipsing the prior mark of 648 set against Eastern Michigan in 1995. The Panthers rushed for 492 yards on 36 carries (13.7 avg.), the second-highest single-game rushing total in school history (530 vs. Army, 1975).

Ollison (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Canisius) rushed for 235 yards and three touchdowns on only 16 carries (14.7 avg.). His TDs covered 8, 31 and a whopping 97 yards. The 97-yard run—in which he physically threw a defender off him at midfield—is the longest play from scrimmage in Pitt history and tied for the longest in college football this year.

Ollison now has 1,054 yards rushing on the year and becomes only the sixth player in Pitt annals to achieve multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, joining Tony Dorsett (four, 1973-76), Curvin Richards (two, 1988-89), LeSean McCoy (two, 2007-08), Dion Lewis (two, 2009-10) and James Conner (two, 2014 and 2016). Ollison now has 2,700 rushing yards for his career and surpassed Curtis Martin (2,643 from 1991-94) for 10th place on Pitt’s all-time rushing yardage list.

On the 2018 season, Ollison is averaging 105.4 rushing yards per game (1,054 yards and 10 touchdowns on 149 carries, an average of 7.1 yards per attempt).

Morrissey (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./La Salle College H.S.) was a catalyst up front in the Panthers’ offensive demolition of the Hokies. The lone underclassman on Pitt’s offensive line, he was lauded by the coaching staff for multiple big blocks at the point of attack. Morrissey was also responsible for several adjustment calls at the line of scrimmage that proved key as he graded out at 90%.

Morrissey has started every single game at center the past two years (22 consecutive). He is part of an offensive front that has paved the way for the nation’s No. 10 rushing attack (256.9 yards per game).

This is the second consecutive week the Panthers garnered the ACC’s Running Back and Offensive Lineman awards. Last week, senior tailback Darrin Hall and senior offensive guard Mike Herndon were honored for their performances in the 23-13 win at Virginia (Nov. 2).

Pitt (6-4, 5-1 ACC) plays at Wake Forest (5-5, 2-4) this Saturday, Nov. 17. The game will kick off at noon and be televised locally by AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh.

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