DALLAS (FWAA) – Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun reached into the grasp of a Penn State receiver and heisted the ball along the end zone’s sideline, creating an interception on one of the signature plays of the weekend as the Buckeyes won a statement road game in the national scope, 20-13. To recognize the game-altering play, Igbinosun earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Nov. 2, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.
Each week during the regular season, the FWAA has selected a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week since 2001. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2024 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 20. The national defensive player of the year will be chosen from those finalists who are part of the 2024 FWAA All-America Team and presented with the trophy at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet on Dec. 9 at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Players may be added or removed from the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list during the season. If a player isn’t already on the preseason watch list – including Igbinosun this week – each week’s honored player will be added at that time.
Igbinosun had the interception to go with a pass break up and four tackles in Ohio State’s (7-1) win that kept it in contention for the Big Ten title. But it was his signature defensive effort in the second-to-last play before halftime that Buckeye fans will remember turning the game.
Ohio State led 14-10 in the final minute of the second quarter as Penn State quarterback Drew Allar had just connected on a 21-yard pass to PSU's Trey Wallace to get to the Buckeyes’ 3-yard-line with 20 seconds left. On the following play, Allar lofted a pass into the end zone again intended for Wallace along the right sideline. Wallace got his hands on the ball as he and Ogbinosun both went to the ground falling outside the boundary, yet Ogbinosun came up holding the ball. The play was initially ruled an incomplete pass. But after review, Igbinosun was shown to pull the ball away from Wallace, while also managing to keep a foot inbounds with possession to reel in an interception on the scoring threat, overturning the on-field call.
Instead of giving up a go-ahead touchdown, Ohio State managed a stay-ahead touchback to keep the lead it held the rest of the game, winning 20-13. Ogbinosun’s coverage got a 90.5 grade by Pro Football Focus and earned him a second pick on the season, tied for the team lead with his opposite cornerback and All-America candidate Denzel Burke.
Igbinosun (pronounced IG-bih-no-son), a 6-2 corner from Union, N.J., sits ninth on the team in total tackles with 24, 15 of them solos. He was an honorable mention All-Big Ten player in the secondary last season when he was third on the team in total tackles with 59 and solo tackles at 39.
Ohio State has had two previous winners of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Chase Young, a defensive end, won the award in 2019, and linebacker James Laurinaitis won it in 2006.
The Buckeyes play host to Purdue (1-7) at noon Saturday on FOX.
The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalists. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from the finalists named in November. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.
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. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. This season, 13 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit NCFAA.org or follow on X at @NCFAA.
The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1990 for the purpose of promoting high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, North Carolina region. Since its inception, the club has grown as well as diversified boasting a sponsor team of more than (80) companies. The Club's activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding Citizenship, Scholarship, Sportsmanship, and Leadership of area athletes and coaches. Through individual and corporate support, more than $3,000,000 has been raised and donated to benefit the Touchdown Club's scholarship efforts.
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Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,300 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. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.