The North Carolina Tar Heels and Minnesota Golden Gophers played one of the best games in Week 1 of the college football season. The Tar Heels won late in the game on a missed field goal by Minnesota. Much of the reason the Tar Heels won the game was due to their defense. The defense was anchored by defensive tackle Jahvaree Ritzie, and he was rewarded for it.
Ritzie was named the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week. This award is selected by the Football Writers Association of America. The award is fairly new to College Football players and the official description on their website is as follows:
This is the second season for the FWAA to select an Outland Trophy National Player of the Week as part of the NCFAA’s weekly national honors from 12 awards. The recipient of the 2024 Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN on Dec. 12. The official presentation to the winner will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 22, 2025.
The graduate student from Kernersville, NC posted 25 tackles last season and had two of those in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl game. In this game against Minnesota, he was terrific, as he came away with a career-high three sacks and six tackles in the win.
North Carolina will host Charlotte on Saturday in Week 2 action.