San Diego State’s Cooper is Bronko Nagurski Trophy National Player of the Week

San Diego State’s Cooper is Bronko Nagurski Trophy National Player of the Week

DALLAS (FWAA) – Two game-changing plays by linebacker Cameron Cooper, one which provided a score and another that took away a opponent’s potential score, led to San Diego State’s 31-29 win over Texas State in both teams’ Pac-12 Conference openers Saturday. For his field goal block and fourth-quarter pick-six, Cooper was selected as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for the weekend of Oct. 3 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 2026 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 19. The national defensive player of the year will be chosen from those finalists who are part of the 2026 FWAA All-America Team and presented with the trophy at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet on Dec. 7 at the Charlotte Convention Center, and the winner will also be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards live on ESPN on Dec. 11.

Cooper made the key plays to go with a career-high seven tackles in the most extensive playing time of the young season for the 6-foot-2, 243-pound junior transfer from Gilbert, Ariz. He blocked a 35-yard field-goal attempt with 3:56 left in the second quarter, preventing a score in a game eventually decided by two points and with the Aztecs already trailing, 17-3.

SDSU rallied with 21 consecutive points and led 24-22 at the point of Cooper’s second big play. Texas State had the ball at its own 30-yard line with three minutes left when the linebacker deflected a pass, caught the still-airborne ball and returned the interception 32 yards for what became the winning touchdown with 2:47 left. He added a quarterback hurry on Texas State’s final drive.

The plays were essential in the win as SDSU became just the sixth team in the last 30 years to be outgained by at least 300 yards (565-239) and still win its game. SDSU’s rally matched the fourth-largest second-half deficit comeback to win in the program’s Division I history since 1969. The Aztecs’ defense recorded season highs of nine tackles for loss and three sacks against a Texas State unit that was yielding just four TFLs and one sack per game through the month of September.

Cooper is making the most of his first season with the Aztecs. He’s seventh on the team in total tackles with 22, 11 of them solo, a sack and three quarterback hurries. He transferred to SDSU prior to the season following two seasons at Western Colorado, an NCAA Division II program. He was a First Team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference selection in 2025 with 81 tackles and 14 TFL’s with five sacks. He was the RMAC Freshman Defensive Player of the Year in 2024.

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 Cooper this week, each week’s honored player is added at that time.

Cooper is San Diego State’s third player to be honored as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week since its origin in 2001 and the first since cornerback Kameron Kelly in the third week of the 2017 season. The Aztecs have not had a Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner or finalist in their past.

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 trophy winner will be chosen from the four 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 (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored nearly 1,000 recipients since 1935. Visit NCFAA.org for more information 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 1,200 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.