Aron Cruickshank named Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the Week

It has become a trend early in the season for Rutgers to find a special teams’ player earning recognition. This time, it is Aron Cruickshank.

After the Scarlet Knights posted a 45-13 victory over Delaware, Cruickshank was named Co-Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. Cruickshank now joins Adam Korsak — who won the same award in Week 2 and has been named the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week twice.

Cruickshank totaled 151 all-purpose yards against Delaware on Saturday afternoon. This included 77 punt return yards and 38 kickoff return yards. Cruickshank’s day was highlighted by a 62-yard punt return touchdown. He is now tied for second among all active FBS players with five returns for touchdowns in his career.

This is Cruickshank’s second Special Teams Player of the Week honor. The first came back in 2019 while he was at Wisconsin.

Cruickshank shared the award with Maryland kicker Joseph Petrino. He went 2-for-2 on both field goal attempts and extra points. Petrino’s last-second 32-yard field goal gave the Terrapins a 20-17 victory at Illinois on Friday night. This was Petrino’s first game-winning kick of his career and Maryland’s first walk-off victory since 2006.

In 2021, Cruickshank leads the team with 133.3 all-purpose yards per game, totaling 400 (157 kickoff return, 141 punt return, 72 receiving, 30 rushing). He was named the Big Ten Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year in 2020 and has a chance to repeat this season.

Rutgers will face No. 19 Michigan this Saturday at the Big House at 3:30 p.m. ET airing live on ABC.