Michigan State linebacker Joe Bachie earns Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors

Joe Bachie's career-high effort earned him weekly honors from the Big Ten.

The Michigan State senior linebacker was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, after tallying a career-high 14 tackles, including two for loss, in the Spartans' 31-10 victory Saturday at Northwestern.

It's the fourth time Bachie has earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors, the last coming Nov. 5, 2018, after he had seven tackles and forced three fumbles in Michigan State's 24-3 victory over Maryland.

Against Northwestern, Bachie also had a sack, two pass breakups, and an interception. He was "all over the place," said head coach Mark Dantonio, who added Sunday that the co-captain 53 "production points" as part of a system the team uses to monitor defensive production.

“That’s the highest one I've ever had,” Dantonio said during his weekly teleconference on Sunday night, “and I really started doing this when I was with Nick Saban in 1995, so that’s the highest production points I’ve ever seen.”

Wisconsin senior running back Jonathan Taylor was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, after gashing Michigan for 203 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 23 carries in a 35-14 victory.

Illinois junior punter Blake Hayes was named the conference's special teams player of the week.