Ihmir Smith-Marsette named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week
By Hawkeyesports.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette has been named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, following No. 16 Iowa’s 28-7 win against Wisconsin to claim the Heartland Trophy. The announcement was made Monday by the Big Ten Conference office.
It is Smith-Marsette’s first career weekly honor and the fourth time a Hawkeye has earned a weekly conference honor this season (Keith Duncan vs. Nebraska, Zach VanValkenburg at Minnesota, and Charlie Jones vs. Michigan State).
Smith-Marsette, a Newark, New Jersey, native, caught a season-high seven passes for a career-high 140 receiving yards and two touchdowns on Saturday. It marked his second straight multi-touchdown game.
His 140 receiving yards were the most by a Hawkeye wide receiver since Marvin McNutt had 151 yards against Purdue in 2011. It was Smith-Marsette’s third career 100-yard receiving game.
His receiving touchdowns of 19 and 53 yards were the 19th and 20th of his career, becoming the 18th player in school history with 20 career touchdowns.
Smith-Marsette ranks 18th all-time in career receiving yards (1,615) at Iowa and eighth all-time in career all-purpose yards (3,415). He has 110 career receptions to rank 17th on Iowa’s all-time career list.
Iowa (6-2) will face Michigan (2-4) Saturday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. (CT) in Kinnick Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN.