DALLAS (FWAA) – Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was all over the field making tackles, but was noticeably present in the Notre Dame backfield as he keyed the Tigers’ 31-23 upset over No. 12 Notre Dame. For his game-high 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and a pick-six, Trotter earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Nov. 4, 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 2023 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 15. The national defensive player of the year will be chosen from those finalists who are part of the 2023 FWAA All-America Team and presented with the trophy at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet on Dec. 4 at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Players may be added or removed from the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list during the season. If not already on the watch list each week’s honored player will be added at that time. Trotter was already on the preseason watch list along with teammates and fellow linebacker Barrett Carter and defensive tackle Tyler Davis.
Trotter, a 6-0 junior from Hainesport, N.J., becomes only the fifth FBS player since 2005 to post defensive stats with double-digit tackles, at least 2.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 or more sacks and have a pick-six in a single game, per the Clemson staff. Trotter spearheaded a Clemson defense that held the nation's 12th-ranked scoring offense to nearly 100 yards below its season average.
His interception came with a 28-yard return for a touchdown. It was the second pick-six of his career, one of many Clemson career marks Trotter is adding his name to this season. The 2.0 sacks were his first multi-sack game of the season and third of his career. He is the first Clemson linebacker in Dabo Swinney’s tenure to record three career games with 2.0 or more sacks.
Trotter earned his first Atlantic Coast Conference Linebacker of the Week award of this season and the third of his career following the Notre Dame win. He is also the first Clemson linebacker to record multiple interception returns for a touchdown in a career since Dorian O’Daniel (two from 2014-17). Clemson held Notre Dame to 146 passing yards and has now held five straight foes to fewer than 200 passing yards for the first time since a 10-game streak in 2019.
Clemson is well represented recently with the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and has had one winner, defensive end Da’Quan Bowers, in the award’s past. Clemson had a run of finalists last decade with linebacker Isaiah Simmons (2019), defensive tackle Christian Wilkins (2018 and 2016) and defensive end Shaq Lawson (2015). Defensive end Gaines Adams was a finalist in 2006. Simmons was the latest of only three Clemson linebackers to ever earn FWAA All-America status. Defensive tackle Tyler Davis was a second-team member on last year’s All-America team and the only Clemson defender to earn the honor this decade.
The Tigers host Georgia Tech at Noon ET Saturday broadcast on ABC.
The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski Trophy finalists. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from the five 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, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.
For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit the redesigned 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, nearly $3,000,000 has been raised and donated to benefit the Touchdown Club's scholarship efforts.
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.