Michigan State spoiled what was a perfect season for Northwestern, downing the No. 8 ranked Wildcats 29-20 at Spartan Stadium this past weekend. The Spartans handed the Wildcats their first defeat of the year, and gave Michigan State the second win over a top-13 opponent of the Mel Tucker era.
The Michigan State defense led the charge in the upset, holding the Northwestern offense to just 1.7 yards per carry. Senior linebacker, and defensive leader, Antjuan Simmons was the leader of the front seven that shut down the Wildcat rushing attack.
Simmons efforts were rewarded by the Big Ten Conference on Monday, earning the Defensive Player of the Week award.
Antjuan Simmons of @MSU_Football is the #B1GFootball Defensive Player of the Week. pic.twitter.com/hQC1RUhTjY
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) November 30, 2020
Antjuan Simmons held a game high 13 tackles in the win, one shy of his career best of 14. He also added 2 tackles for loss and one sack to his stacked stat line. Simmons has excelled in Scottie Hazelton’s defense this season, leading the team in tackles (53) and tackles for loss (6.5).
This is the first time in his Spartan career Simmons will have won the Defensive Player of the Week award. Simmons is the first Spartan to do so since Joe Bachie won the award against Northwestern last season.
