OAKES NAMED B1G SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

IU Media Relations

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana redshirt sophomore Griffin Oakes earned Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors, the conference announced Monday. It is the second recognition of his career (Sept. 29, 2014).

Oakes is the third Hoosier to collect honors from the league in 2015. Junior running back Jordan Howard was named co-Offensive Player of the Week following the Wake Forest game and true freshman safety Jonathan Crawford was named Big Ten co-Freshman of the Week following the Western Kentucky game.

Oakes set a career-high and matched an IU record (7th time) with four field goals from 39, 36, 51 and 24 yards against No. 15 Michigan. The redshirt sophomore is first in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (88.9, T-9th nationally), first among B1G kickers and second overall with 8.5 points per game, and second in field goals (16, T-15th).

He has 42 touchbacks on 64 kickoffs this year. The Greenwood, Ind., native leads the conference in touchbacks (8th nationally) and touchback percentage (65.6, 10th), and he is third in kickoff average (63.2, 24th).

Oakes is 16-of-18 (88.9) on field goals and 37-of-40 (92.5) on extra points in 2015. He shares third in field goals, is sixth in PATs and is 10th in points (85) on IU’s single season lists. In his career, Oakes is 8th on the program’s career field goals list, hitting 29-of-36 (80.6), and ninth on the extra points list, connecting on 60-of-63 (95.2).