Tag: bronko nagurski award

Abdul Carter named a finalist for two top individual awards

Will Penn State’s Abdul Carter finally bring the Bronko Nagurski Award home to Happy Valley?

Penn State moving [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] from linebacker to the defensive line has been paying off ina. big way this season. Carter is hoping to finish this regular season on a high note as he polishes off his résumé for some of college football’s top honors this award season.

Carter was named a finalist for this year’s Bronko Nagurski Award, presented by the Charlotte Touchdown Club. The Nagurski Award is given to college football’s best defensive player each year. The Nagurski Award is an award that has never been awarded to a Penn State player, so Carter is looking to make a little Penn State program history in the process.

Carter comes into Week 13 of the season leading the Big Ten in tackles for loss with 18. He also leads the Penn State defense with 8 sacks and is among the team leaders in total tackles with 45.

Carter is one of four finalists for this year’s Bronko Nagurski Award. He is up against Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, and South Carolina edge rusher Kyle Kennard. Carter leads his fellow finalists in tackles for loss. Kennard has 2.5 more sacks than Carter.

Last year’s winner of the Bronko Nagurski Award was Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts. The last Big Ten player to win the Nagurski Award was Chase Young of Ohio State in 2019.

Carter has also been named a finalist for the Lombardi Award and a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award.

Carter and Penn State take on Minnesota in their final road trip of the regular season on Saturday afternoon. A win will put Penn State one step closer to a potential home game in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

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Abdul Carter named to Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list

Abdul Carter is on the watch list for the nation’s top defensive player award in 2024.

On Tuesday, the Penn State junior defensive end [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] was named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list.

Carter was one of 76 defensive stars to make the preseason list for national defensive player of the year. He is making the switch from linebacker to defensive end, which could help him gain more counting statistics like sacks and tackles for loss.

In 2023, Carter notched 48 tackles (25 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, an interception, five pass breakups and five QB hurries.

Related: James Franklin plays down Abdul Carter’s position change at Big Ten media days

Other notable names joining Carter on the watchlist include Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts, Georgia safety Malaki Starks, Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins, Ohio State’s Caleb Downs, Denzel Burke, JT Tuimoloau, Michigan’s Will Johnson and Colorado’s Travis Hunter.

It is safe to say that the Big Ten is filled with top-tier defensive players and that the Nagurski Trophy could easily come from the conference.

The Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy on November 2 and unveil the winner on December 9.

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Penn State defensive trio named to Bronko Nagurski Award watch list

Will any of these three players become Penn State’s first Bronko Nagurski Award winner in school history in 2023?

A trio of Penn State’s top defensive players are now officially in direct competition with each other for one of college football’s top individual honors this season. Linebacker [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag], defensive end [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag], and cornerback [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag] were each named to the watch list for this season’s Bronko Nagurski Award from the Football Writers Association of America. The award goes to the nation’s top defensive player as determined by the FWAA.

Penn State was one of six schools to land three players on the initial watch list for the award. Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio State were the others. The Big Ten and SEC each had 15 players on the watch list, which was tied for the most by any conference.

The Bronko Nagurski Award has been presented every year since 1993 by the Charlotte Touchdown Club, with Arizona defensive tackle Rob Waldrop receiving the inaugural award. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Penn State has never had a Bronko Nagurski Award winner despite having some top-tier defensive talent over the years.

Last year’s Bronko Nagurski Award winner was Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. It was the second year in a row Anderson claimed the award. He joined Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern as the only two-time and back-to-back winner of the award. Fitzgerald won the award in 1995 and again in 1996 as a linebacker for the Wildcats.

The last Big Ten player to win the Bronko Nagurski Award was Ohio State defensive end Chase Young in 2019. The only other winners of the award from the Big Ten other than Young and Fitzgerald have been Charles Woodson (Michigan, 1997) and James Laurinaitis (Ohio State, 2006).

Finalists for this year’s award will be announced on November 15 and the winner will be announced on December 4 at a banquet in Charlotte, NC.

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Two Wisconsin Badgers named to Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List

Two Badgers were named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List on Tuesday morning, which is awarded to the best defensive player in the country:

Just ahead of the start of the Wisconsin football’s fall camp, two Badgers were named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, which is awarded to the best defensive player in the country every year.

Related: Wisconsin CB Jay Shaw named in ON3’s most impactful DB transfers of 2022

Senior nose tackle Keeanu Benton and junior outside linebacker Nick Herbig were added to the watch list after having fantastic 2021 seasons on one of the best defenses in the country. In addition, the two have already been named to Phil Steele’s Preseason All-America team and to Athlon’s Sports Preseason All-Big Ten list.

Even though the Badgers will be losing a lot of experience going into this season, the Wisconsin defense could still be one of the best units in the country with its incoming and returning talent.

Three Ohio State players named to the Preseason Nagurski Trophy watch list

Another watch list means some more Buckeyes on it.

The Football Writers’Association of America announced a couple of preseason watch lists on Wednesday, and both had a trio of Ohio State players included. We already told you about the Outland Trophy, but Sevyn Banks, Haskell Garrett, and Zach Harrison are another trio that appeared on the 2021 Preseason Bronko Nagurski watch list. Garrett was named to both watch lists.

The Nagurski Trophy was first awarded in 1993 and goes to the player judged to be the best defender in college football annually. The winner will be chosen from five finalists and honored at an awards banquet on Dec. 6 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Convention Center.

Sevyn Banks is expected to be Ohio State’s No. 1 cornerback in 2021 as true senior. He’s got the athletic ability and experience to develop into one of the best in the country this fall. He has already appeared on several preseason All-American teams.

Everyone is anticipating the player that defensive end Zach Harrison can be this fall. A former 5-star commit, he has the length, body, and fast-twitch ability to be the next game-wrecker off the edge. He has yet to fully put it all together, but it’s often a player’s junior year that is the break-out one. He too has been picked by many to make a significant splash this fall.

Garrett decided to come back for one more season instead of entering the 2021 NFL draft. His story is an amazing one after somehow recovering from a gunshot wound to the face in time for the 2020 season. Simply being in the lineup wasn’t what he had in mind. Instead, Garrett turned into one of the best interior defensive linemen in the Big Ten and has also received multiple preseason accolades heading into this year.

OSU has had two players win the Nagurski. Linebacker James Laurinaitis took it home in 2006, followed by defensive end Chase Young in 2019.

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Texas Football: Longhorns honored with Big 12 and National honors

D’Shawn Jamison, Joseph Ossai and head coach Tom Herman were all recipients of weekly honors for the victory over Oklahoma State 41-34.

Taking down a top ten team is no easy task. Especially when it comes on the road but the Texas Longhorns found a way to pull it off. It was the first instance this happened for the Horns since they beat the No. 5 Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2010. The last time this team pulled off a victory over a top ten team on the road they followed it up with loss, let’s hope that history is not on the Longhorns side.

One of the players that was a key cog for the Longhorns victory was D’Shawn Jamison. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score to immediately answer Oklahoma State.

The kickoff returned for a score was the only scoring play for the Longhorns in the third quarter. That kept them within striking distance for the win they secured for their efforts. D’Shawn Jamison took home Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week.

As big as the return by Jamison was, no one had the impact of ‘Jack’ Joseph Ossai. He secured the walk-off sack that gave the Longhorns the victory. In the game he led the team in tackles with 12. Six of which were tackles for loss. Couple those stats with three sacks, one fumble forced on a strip sack and a fumble recovery. That is much the reason that Ossai was the talk of college football on Saturday.

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Not only did Joseph Ossai pick up Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors but also three other national honors for his performance. Walter Camp Football Foundation, Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy Player of the Week also went the way of the Longhorns top defender. Not a bad week for Ossai. With that performance National NFL Draft analysts are circling him as a potential first round draft pick. B/R’s Matt Miller even mocked him as high as No. 16 in his latest mock draft.

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These two defensive players weren’t the only individuals associated with the Longhorns to earn weekly honors. Texas head coach Tom Herman was named Coach of the Week by the Dodd Trophy. The award given annually to the top coaches in all of FBS. Herman was named to the preseason watchlist earlier this year.

Locked on Longhorns Podcast: Changing the venue for Oklahoma-Texas?

Locked on Longhorns podcast discusses the possibility of a 10-game schedule and where will the Oklahoma-Texas game be played?

The podcast kicks off discussing Tom Herman’s recent surgery. Add him to the list of Texas Longhorns who were operated on prior to the season. Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman reported the idea of a 10-game schedule that would involve only one non-conference game in 2020. Which game would the Longhorns keep? Plus there is another idea on the table in regards to the Red River Rivalry. Could the game be moved to from Dallas for the next two seasons?

Three more Longhorns were added to award watch lists. Safety Caden Sterns and Linebacker Joseph Ossai were both named to the Bronko Nagurski Award watch list. Which Longhorn is more likely to earn the hardware? Samuel Cosmi was also added to the Outland Trophy watch list. That award is given to the nation’s top lineman. Three other Longhorns have won that particular award. Plus an update on Texas high school football.

Phil Steele’s College Football Magazine is now available. Where do the Longhorns rank in his initial top 25? Who is the biggest shock in the top 10? Longhorns were also mentioned in his four surprise teams of 2020.

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Wisconsin S Eric Burrell added to another watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy

Three days ago, Eric Burrell was named to the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award that goes to the best defensive back in college football. Yesterday, Burrell was added to another watch list for the prestigious Bronko Nagurski Trophy that is awarded to the best defensive player in college football. 

Three days ago, Eric Burrell was named to the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award that goes to the best defensive back in college football. Yesterday, Burrell was added to another watch list for the prestigious Bronko Nagurski Trophy that is awarded to the best defensive player in college football. 

After a phenomenal year, where he was the highest-rated returning defensive back in coverage in the Big Ten from Pro Football Focus, the Severn, M.D. native is garnering a lot of attention around college football going into next season. If Burrell is able to keep improving on his success from last year, he could be getting his name called next April.

I wrote about Eric Burrell and his addition to the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award yesterday, as well as spoke more in-depth about his play last season here.