Maryland's Will Likely named Big Ten return specialist of the year

By foxsports
Published

In the race for Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year, Will Likely probably established an insurmountable lead in week one. 

The Maryland cornerback broke the Big Ten record for punt return yards in a game with 233 in a season-opening win over Richmond.

He returned a punt for a touchdown in that game and took another to the house a week later against Bowling Green. 

A 5-foot-7 Florida native, Likely leads the Big Ten and is third nationally in punt return average at 17.7 yards. 

On Monday, the league honored Likely with its recently created Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year award and also announced Likely was a first-team All-Big Ten pick at cornerback for the second season in a row. 

End Yannick Ngakoue joined Likely on the All-Big Ten first team while Jermaine Carter, Quinton Jefferson and Sean Davis earned honorable mention. 

Offensive awards will be released Tuesday.