After a standout performance against UMass, Kaden Wetjen is the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.

Wetjen’s 95-yard punt return touchdown tied the Iowa record for the longest punt return in school history.

For the game, Wetjen had four punt returns for 182 yards. He is currently second in the Big Ten with 192 punt return yards this season.

Wetjen also scored on a 20-yard end-around in the first half.

“My first thought process is catch the ball and go no matter how close the guys are, but I might peek a couple of times to see how far the guys are,” Wetjen said. “When you have a punter like (UMass), he had a strong leg. So I wasn’t really worried about guys being too close to me when I caught it. Personally, punt return last week was not my best week at all, so I kind of went back to the basics and thankfully that helped out.”

“I thought last week he pressed a little too much, was trying to do too much,” said Kirk Ferentz, Iowa football’s head coach. “Just encouraged him to try to relax and be who he is, and when he does that, he’s pretty good because obviously he’s got great ability. He’s fearless back there, and when he gets the ball, he’s trying to do something with it, which is really, really special.”

“Whenever he gets the ball in his hands you know something spectacular is going to happen,” said Mark Gronowski, Iowa’s starting quarterback. “He’s just a kid that goes out there and runs like a chicken with his head cut off sometimes, but he always ends up getting a bunch of yards for us, which is awesome, and helps us with field position.”