VANDERBILT’S HANSEN IS OUTLAND TROPHY NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

DALLAS (FWAA) – Offensive tackle Gunnar Hansen helped Vanderbilt hold the ball and maintain drives against No. 1 Alabama last Saturday, leading to the season’s most surprising upset as the Commodores kept scoring and never trailed in a 40-35 takedown of the Crimson Tide. For his top blocking grades and leadership up front in the Commodores’ first win over a top-ranked team in program history, Hansen earned the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor for games played the weekend of Oct. 5, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

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 weekly winners – including Hansen this week – are added to the Outland Trophy Watch List going forward.

One of the telling statistics in the historic upset was the time of possession, where Vanderbilt (3-2) controlled the clock for the bulk of the game, holding the ball for 42:08 compared to the Crimson Tide’s 17:52. The Commodores outrushed Alabama 166-84 and rolled up a season-high 418 total yards.

Hansen, a 6-5 senior from Boca Raton, Fla., and a Human and Organizational Development major, was credited with the team’s best overall and pass block grades in the win. Hansen did not allow a sack or a quarterback hit on Diego Pavia, freeing him to produce 16-of-20 passing for 252 yards and two touchdowns and gain 308 total yards. Both of Pavia’s touchdown passes gave Vandy two-score leads in the second half, including one on a fourth-and-one play, and his 218.8 pass efficiency rating was his highest of the season.

The offensive line play led the Commodores to their highest point total (40) in an SEC game since 2018 and the most the Crimson Tide have allowed thus far in 2024. Hansen and the line set the tone early, marching 75 yards for a touchdown on Vandy’s opening possession, the first touchdown scored against Alabama in the first quarter this season. Running back Sedrick Alexander led the ground game with 64 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

The historic win is the first in 11 tries for Vanderbilt against a top-ranked team and snapped a 23-game losing streak to Alabama dating back to 1984. It was also the Commodores’ first win over a top-five team, ending an 0-60 run against top-five teams heading into the matchup.

Hansen was the SEC’s Co-Offensive Lineman of the week, one of four Vanderbilt players to earn weekly honors from the conference this week. The last time a Vanderbilt player earned postseason honors from the FWAA was offensive lineman Andrew Jelks on its Freshman All-America team in 2013. The last Commodores lineman to earn FWAA All-America honors was guard George Deiderich in 1958.

Vanderbilt travels to Kentucky (3-2) for a 7:45 p.m. kickoff Saturday in a game on the SEC Network.

The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from finalists who are a part of the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.

The Outland Trophy, celebrating 79 years since its founding, is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since. Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.

The Outland 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.

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The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, founded in 1977, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, consisting of more than 1,300 men and women from the City of Omaha, the State of Nebraska, and others. The Committee serves to communicate, develop, initiate and promote sports activities in the Greater Omaha sports area. In addition to the Outland Trophy Award Events and Dinner, the Greater Omaha Sports Committee promotes high school, college, and professional sports in the Greater Omaha area and the Midwest.  For more information contact Bob Mancuso Jr., Chairman at bmancuso@showofficeonline.com or see showofficeonline.com.

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.