NIU’S O’MALLEY EARNS BRONKO NAGURSKI TROPHY NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

NIU’S O’MALLEY EARNS BRONKO NAGURSKI TROPHY NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

DALLAS (FWAA) – NIU defensive tackle Devonte O’Malley registered a pair of sacks and forced a fumble that aided in the Huskies’ dramatic 16-14 win at No. 5 Notre Dame last Saturday. For helping contain the Irish at home, O’Malley earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Sept. 7, 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, each week’s honored player, including O’Malley this week, will be added at that time.

The 6-2, 293-pound senior from Midlothian, Ill., also had three tackles for loss among four solo tackles as NIU (2-0) pulled off the biggest upset of the young season. The two sacks matched O’Malley’s career-best when he notched a pair against Eastern Michigan in 2002.

The defensive pressure up front bolstered the Huskies to hold Notre Dame to 123 rushing yards on 28 carries and 163 passing yards while pressuring Irish quarterback Riley Leonard all day. Notre Dame (286 yards to NIU’s 388) was outgained by more than 100 yards at home for only the fourth time in the last 15 years.

O’Malley’s 3.5 tackles for loss on the season tie him for 25th nationally in this week’s listings.

Sparked by O’Malley and its defense, NIU’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2015 and its first win over a ranked non-conference opponent since 2003 also earned the Huskies the Cheez-It National Team of the Week for the Sept. 7 weekend as selected by the All-America Committee of the FWAA.

O’Malley is the second NIU player to earn the weekly Bronko Nagurski Trophy honor. NIU defensive end Larry English earned the award the week of Sept. 22, 2007, when he had five sacks and five quarterback pressures in a win at Idaho. The Huskies do not have any previous finalists or winners of the postseason award.

The Huskies are idle this weekend prior to hosting their MAC opener against Buffalo on Sept. 21.

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 Twitter 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