Peterson III named Big Ten and Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week
November 24, 2025 | Football
Peterson III posted three sacks in Senior Night win over No. 21 Illinois
MADISON, Wis. – Badger OLB Darryl Peterson was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, as announced by the conference Monday afternoon. He also reeled in Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week honors on Tuesday morning. Peterson had a night to remember in his last home game at Camp Randall Stadium, tallying six tackles, three sacks, and a forced fumble in the Badgers' win over No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini.
After being honored prior to kickoff as part of Wisconsin's Senior Night, Peterson was a force to be reckoned with all evening. Besides his three sacks, Peterson also deflected a pair of passes and posted two QB hurries. In the fourth quarter, Peterson helped seal the Badger win by terminating an Illini drive with a third-down sack. After a botched punt attempt, Wisconsin went on to stretch the lead to 24-10 just a few plays later.
Peterson is now the second Big Ten player this season to record three sacks in a game (Caden Curry, Ohio State, Sept. 27 at Washington) and the first to notch three sacks and a forced fumble.
Peterson’s trio of sacks were a career-high, and he collected the most for a Badger since Nick Herbig recorded three sacks against Iowa on Oct. 12, 2021. Peterson helped stymie the Illinois rushing attack, holding them to 50 rushing yards, their third lowest output of the season.
A Badger has now won the award in two of the last three weeks with Cooper Catalano securing the honor for his performance in Wisconsin's win over No. 23 Washington (Nov. 8). It marks the first time the Badgers have had two Big Ten Defensive Players of the Week in a single season since 2022 when Kamo’i Latu and John Torchio both won the award.
Wisconsin heads to Minnesota on Saturday to take on the Golden Gophers in a border battle for Paul Bunyan’s axe. The game will kick off at 2:30 p.m. on FS1.
Certified Playmaker@_DPETERSON10 x #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/X3mG8HZV04
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 25, 2025
Darryl Peterson III is the B1G Defensive Player of the Week!#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/jwxhrHhPv0
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 24, 2025
