OLE MISS’ IVEY EARNS BRONKO NAGURSKI TROPHY NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Ole Miss defensive line dominated Georgia on Saturday and one name kept coming up on multiple key plays and takeaways – defensive end Jared Ivey. The career-high five solo stops among his seven total tackles and two sacks that contributed to the Rebels’ 28-10 win has earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Nov. 9, 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 have been added or removed from the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list during the season. If a player wasn’t already on the preseason watch list – including Ivey this week – each week’s honored player was added at that time. This is the final weekly award for the 2024 season.
Ivey, a 6-6 senior edge rusher from Suwanee, Ga., also recorded two pass break-ups, forced a fumble on one of his sacks and created a tipped pass that resulted in an interception for the Rebels (8-2). His play stood out amid Ole Miss’ standout defensive showing that limited Georgia to 245 total yards, its lowest total since 2017, and its fewest rushing yards (59) and points scored since (10) since 2021.
The two sacks from Ivey – his 15th and 16th career sacks with the Rebels – moved him into ninth all-time at Ole Miss, passing Dewayne Dotson. Ole Miss forced four fumbles and three total turnovers from the Bulldogs with nine tackles for loss, five sacks, five pass breakups, four QB hurries and an interception.
Ivey, a versatile athletic player who also received Division I scholarship offers to play basketball coming out of high school, is 10th on the Rebels defensive stat board with 31 total tackles, 19 of them solo. A transfer from Georgia Tech in 2022, Ivey has started 40 times in his 54 career games playing at both schools. At Ole Miss this season he is third on the team in sacks (7.0) and fifth in tackles for loss (9.5). The two pass breakups against Georgia were his first of the season and he has four QB hurries.
Ole Miss has not had a Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner in its past. The Rebels have had two finalists, most recently in 2014 with cornerback Senquez Golson and also in 2006 with linebacker Patrick Willis.
The Rebels are idle this weekend while they prepare to play at Florida (4-5) on Nov. 23. That game is set for a noon ET kickoff on either ABC or ESPN.
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.
Coca-Cola Consolidated is the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States. Our purpose is to honor God in all we do, to serve others, to pursue excellence and to grow profitably. For over 121 years, we have been deeply committed to the consumers, customers and communities we serve and passionate about the broad portfolio of beverages and services we offer. We make, sell and distribute beverages of The Coca-Cola Company and other partner companies in more than 300 brands and flavors across 14 states and the District of Columbia, to approximately 60 million consumers. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Coca-Cola Consolidated is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “COKE”. More information about the Company is available at cokeconsolidated.com. Follow Coca-Cola Consolidated on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
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
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