J.T. Tuimoloau Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week After Dominant Performance Against Penn State

One day after the Walter Camp Football Foundation named the Ohio State defensive end its national defensive player of the week, the Big Ten named Tuimoloau the conference's defensive player of the week on Monday following his dominant performance against Penn State on Saturday.

#B1GFootball : J.T. Tuimoloau, @OhioStateFB https://t.co/suhUm6YslF | #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/bxZabJz64m

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 31, 2022

Tuimoloau racked up six tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, one pass breakup (that led to a Zach Harrison interception), a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two interceptions, including a pick-six that helped seal the Buckeyes' 44-31 win over the Nittany Lions.

In his postgame press conference after the victory, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day called Tuimoloau's all-time great performance a “coming-out party” for the former five-star from Sammamish, Washington, who defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said hadn't received credit in the box score for his efforts as of a few weeks ago.

Tuimoloau is now up to 15 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions, one pass deflection, four quarterback hits, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 2022. His 6.5 TFLs rank third on Ohio State's roster behind Mike Hall Jr. (7.5) and Tommy Eichenberg (7.0), and his 2.5 sacks are tied for third with Eichenberg after Hall (4.5) and Javontae Jean-Baptiste (3.5).

With the conference recognition, Tuimoloau extends Ohio State's streak of players earning a Big Ten player of the week award to seven consecutive games. He joins Marvin Harrison Jr., C.J. Stroud (twice), Tommy Eichenberg, Miyan Williams and Noah Ruggles as Buckeyes who have received the honor this year.

Here is the complete list of winners and the stats from their award-worthy performances: