MINNEAPOLIS -- Saturday's one-point victory over Purdue yielded weekly honors for a pair of Gophers players.
Minnesota safety Cedric Thompson was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, while redshirt freshman kicker Ryan Santoso earned the first Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honor of his career.
Thompson, a senior from California, bookended Saturday's victory with a pair of interceptions of Purdue quarterback Austin Appleby. The first of Thompson's two picks came on the Boilermakers' first play of the game and helped set up a Gophers touchdown. In the final minutes, Thompson made a diving catch to intercept another Appleby pass, effectively clinching the win for Minnesota.
It's the first Defensive Player of the Week award for Thompson, and the second straight week a Gopher has earned that recognition. Linebacker Damien Wilson won it one week earlier for his performance against Northwestern.
Santoso won the special teams honor thanks to a 52-yard field goal late in Saturday's game that proved to be the game winner. After missing an extra point earlier in the game, Santoso redeemed himself by drilling a 52-yarder that gave Minnesota a 39-38 lead. It was the longest field goal by a Gophers kicker since 2003. Like the defensive accolade, it marked the second week in a row a Minnesota player earned the special teams award after Jalen Myrick did so last week following his 100-yard kickoff return.
Thanks in big part to Thompson and Santoso, the Gophers are now 6-1 and 3-0 in the Big Ten. Minnesota's next opponent is Illinois this Saturday on the road.
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