DALLAS — Texas A&M defensive back Justin Evans has been named the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for his clutch performances in the Aggies’ 31-24 overtime victory over UCLA this past Saturday.
Evans, a 6-1, 200-pound safety, picked off two Josh Rosen passes in the fourth quarter and also made the game-winning defensive play when he broke up a fourth-down pass at the goal line in overtime. Evans also chipped in eight tackles, two of them unassisted.
The senior from Wiggins, Miss., intercepted his first pass midway through the fourth quarter that stopped a UCLA drive at the Texas A&M 3. His other interception came with 37 seconds remaining in regulation at midfield with the score tied at 24.
Evans will be added to the Bronko Nagurski Watch List for the annual award. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the 2016 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Thurs., Nov. 17. The winner will be chosen from those five finalists who are part of the 2016 FWAA All-America Team.
The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s entire membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalists. The committee members then select the winner as the best defensive player in college football.
The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet, presented by ACN, will be held on Mon., Dec. 5, at the Charlotte Convention Center. In addition to the 2016 Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner’s announcement, the banquet will celebrate the recipient of the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, sponsored by the CTC and Florida East Coast Railway. Navy’s Chet Moeller, a member of the FWAA’s 1975 All-America Team and a College Football Hall of Famer, will be honored. Duke head coach David Cutcliffe will be the keynote speaker at the banquet.
The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw “Bronko” Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football.
Founded in 1941, the FWAA consists of 1,400 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team.