EAST LANSING, Mich. – Three Michigan State football players on defense and special teams earned recognition from the Big Ten Conference for the 2025 season on Wednesday, led by redshirt junior punter Ryan Eckley, who was named the Big Ten Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year, and tabbed to the first-team All-Big Ten lists for both the coaches and the media.
Eckley was joined by a pair of linebacker teammates who both earned honorable mention All-Big Ten in junior linebacker Jordan Hall (coaches and media) and redshirt senior Wayne Matthews III (media).
SPECIAL TEAMS
P R-Jr. Ryan Eckley (Big Ten Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year, first-team All-B1G coaches and media)
• The Big Ten Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year Award is named for Illinois' Dike Eddleman and Michigan State's Brandon Fields.
• MSU's second Big Ten Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year Award recipient, joined by Bryce Baringer in 2022 (award began in 2011).
• Now a three-time All-Big Ten honoree after garnering second-team recognition from coaches and third-time honors from media, along with consensus second-team honoree in 2023.
• Is eighth different Michigan State punter to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors and first consensus All-B1G first-team honoree since Brandon Fields in 2006.
• Picked up where he left off last season by leading the Big Ten and ranking second in the FBS with a 48.5 yards per punt average.
• Leads the B1G in punts of 50+ yards (23), with nine more than next punter (Maryland's Bryce McFerson with 14).
• Also third in the B1G and ranks tied for 30th in FBS in punts inside the 20 (20).
• Owns a career punting average of 47.7 yards per punt (148 punts for 7,055 yards), which ranks No. 1 in school history (previous record: Bryce Baringer, 46.0 avg. (2018, 20-22).
• Currently ranks No. 1 in all of NCAA among active players in punting career punting average (47.7 ypp); his career punting average ranks No. 1 in Big Ten history (previous record: Tory Taylor, 46.3-yard average at Iowa from 2020-23).
• Also No. 13 on MSU career list for punt yards (7,055) and No. 13 for punt attempts (148).
• Named Ray Guy Award National Punter of the Week for Week 2 (Sept. 9) and two-time Ray Guy Award Ray's 8 list in back-to-back weeks after two games.
• Season-long of 60 yards is tied for ninth-longest in B1G and tied for 85th in FBS.
• Tied for the second-fewest touchbacks (1) in the B1G.
• Punted 49 times for 2,378 yards (48.5 ypp) with 23 punts of 50+ yards (47 percent) and one of 60 yards (2 percent).
• Boomed at least one punt of 50+ yards in nine games, while posting multiple 50+ yards in eight of the 12 games, only doing so in two games in which he didn't punt more than once, as he only punted once for 48 yards in the Youngstown State game, had three punts for a 45.0 ypp average in the UCLA game, and punted once for 50 yards in game at Indiana.
• Logged five games with three or more punts of 50+ yards, including averaging 50+ yards in five of the 12 games.
• Had 20 punts inside the 20, with 10 inside the 10 and one touchback.
• Pinned four punts downed at the 1-yard line this season (two vs. Boston College and one each vs. Western Michigan and Iowa) Jordan Hall led Michigan State with 88 tackles in 2025. DEFENSE
LB Jr. Jordan Hall (honorable mention All-Big Ten coaches and media)
• Voted a team captain by his teammates.
• Ranks tied for third in the B1G in both forced fumbles (3) and fumbles forced/game (0.25), ranking tied for 12th in the FBS in forced fumbles and tied for 19th in FF/game.
• Led the Spartan defense and ranks 11th in the B1G and tied for 78th in the FBS in total tackles (88), in addition to 13th in the league and tied for 91st in the nation in tackles/game (7.33), as well as tied for 14th in the conference and tied for 77th in the country in solo stops (47), while also ranking 11th in the B1G in tackle assists (41).
• Also just outside the top 50 in the B1G in total tackles for loss (4.5) and TFL/game (0.4).
• Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week (Week 2; Sept. 8) for his career-high performance in Boston College game with a career-best 15 tackles, logging his second career double-digit tackle total and his first since the 2023 season-finale when he tallied 12 tackles vs. Penn State (11/25/23) at Ford Field in Detroit.
• Started all 12 games and led MSU defense with 88 total tackles (nearly evenly split with 47 solo, 41 assists), while also ranking tied for the team lead in sacks (2.5), and tied for third on team with 4.5 tackles for loss (17 yards), in addition to topping team in forced fumbles (3), while sharing team lead in both interceptions (1) and fumble recoveries (1), in playing 643 snaps, which ranked second among the linebacker corps and fourth on total defense, as one of four Spartan defenders with 600+ snaps.
• Led or shared lead on defense in tackles in six of the 12 games this season. Wayne Matthews III recorded 73 tackles in 2025, including 4.5 tackles for loss. LB Sr.-5 Wayne Matthews III (honorable mention All-Big Ten media)
• Ranks 28th in the B1G in tackles/game (6.1), while also ranking 24th in total tackles (73), including ranked tied for 11th in tackle assists (41) and 51st in solo tackles (32).
• Started at linebacker in all 12 games, posting 73 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss (14 yards), one pass break-up and one interception, sharing team lead in tackle assists, ranking second in total tackles and third in solo stops, tied or second in TFL and sharing team lead in INTs.
• Registered 699 snaps, which topped the linebacker corps and ranked second overall on defense, out of the 781 total defensive snaps.
• In last four games (Maryland, Iowa, Penn State, Michigan), played all but two snaps (272 of 274 plays), playing every snap in Maryland and Michigan games, while missing one snap in both Iowa and Penn State contests.
• Has posted five or more stops in 10 of the 11 games in which he completed, including four games with eight or more tackles (Boston College, 8; Youngstown State, 10; Penn State, 8; Iowa, 9).
• Had stretch of posting five tackles in four straight games (Michigan, Indiana, UCLA, Nebraska).
• Led or shared the lead for tackles in back-to-back games (Iowa and Penn State), as part of three total times this season (Youngstown State).
• Fifth-year senior linebacker played in 47 collegiate games the past five seasons (26 at Old Dominion from 2021-23; 21 at MSU in 2024-25).
• Recorded 254 career tackles, including 14.0 TFLs (77 yards) and 3.5 sacks (32 yards) . . . also had one interception to go with four pass break-ups, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
