Indiana football: Senior linebacker Aaron Casey named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week

Indiana football senior linebacker Aaron Casey has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week due to his huge performance in the Hoosiers’ 20-14 win vs Wisconsin over the weekend.

In the Indiana football win, Casey totaled 9 tackles with 7 of those tackles coming in the fourth quarter of the game while also adding 4 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.

Casey also received the game ball from head coach Tom Allen due to his stellar performance.

“A couple weeks he didn’t play very well. He took ownership for that. He came, we talked,” Allen said about Casey. “He’s just a special, special person. He’s the leader of our defense, the leader of our team. Not up for giving many speeches. He doesn’t need to. He just needs to play like that, let his play doing the talking. He leads the defense when he’s on the field.”

“You have to have your best players step up and play really well in games like this, a game you have know you have to win, against a really good team,” Allen said about Casey’s performance. “Proud of him and proud of all the guys around him.”

Below is the full release.

Defensive Players of the Week
Aaron Casey, Indiana
LB – Sr. – Douglasville, Ga. – Alexander

• Piled up nine tackles with seven coming in the fourth quarter to hold Wisconsin scoreless in the final frame and seal the Hoosiers’ 20-14 win
• Added 4.0 tackles for loss, the most by a Hoosier since 2016, which included 2.0 sacks, with all four tackles for loss coming in the second half, with three in the fourth quarter
• Forced a fumble in the fourth quarter, which led to IU’s first recovered fumble of the season
• Earns the first Defensive Player of the Week accolade of his career
• Last Indiana Defensive Player of the Week: Micah McFadden (Dec. 7, 2020)

See Also: Indiana Football In Review Ep. 9: What went right? What went wrong? And more takeaways