Redshirt freshman safety Patrick Nelson earned freshman All-Big Ten accolades from both ESPN.com and Big Ten Network following a solid rookie season.
A Chicago native, Nelson played in all 12 games with six starts at safety, ranking third on the team with 75 tackles while also adding 2.5 TFLs, a half-sack and one fumble recovery. He averaged 7.7 tackles per game in conference play to rank 16th in the Big Ten (69 of his 75 tackles came in B1G games).
On Oct. 1 at Nebraska, his first career start, Nelson made 16 tackles to tie the Illinois season-high for tackles in a game. He made 14 tackles and 1.5 TFLs in win at Rutgers to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.
Three other Illini freshmen were honorable mention All-Freshman selections by BTN – RB Reggie Corbin, SS Stanley Green and DT Jamal Milan.
