Maryland RB Javon Leake named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week

A Maryland football player has earned some recognition from the Big Ten for the first time this season.

Running back Javon Leake was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week Monday following one of the best games of his career against Rutgers.

The junior racked 190 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns to help the Terps sail to a 48-7 victory over the Scarlet Knights.

Two of those touchdowns came on the ground, but his best play of the game was on the opening kickoff of the second half. Leake muffed the kick but was able to recover before cutting across the field and sprinting up the right sideline to bring it to the house for a 100-yard touchdown.

“The whole team was like “house call, house call” coming out, so the momentum gave me a lot of confidence,” Leake said after the game. “ [The] kick return [unit] did a good job of blocking which is why I feel I just reversed back field and it was open.”

On offense, Leake gained 65 yards on just five rushing attempts, averaging a team-best 13 yards per carry. He had another huge run for his first touchdown of the contest, sprinting 42 yards to the end zone on his first carry of the day to put Maryland up 20-7 in the second quarter. His third touchdown on a 12-yard pickup gave Maryland its final score of the day.

While this is Leake’s first conference honor this season, he was a two-time winner in 2018. After a four-touchdown performance against Illinois on Oct. 27, the running back was named both the Big Ten Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Week.