DALLAS (FWAA) – Ohio State’s inside-outside defensive force of Kayden McDonald at tackle and Caden Curry on the end helped the top-ranked Buckeyes limit Washington to just 61 yards on the ground and take a 24-6 road win in Seattle. Curry’s five tackles for loss tied the school record to go with a career-high 11 tackles, and McDonald’s career-high seven tackles included three for losses that earned the duo a share of the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Players of the Week for the weekend of Sept. 27, 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 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 20. The national defensive player of the year will be chosen from those finalists who are part of the 2025 FWAA All-America Team and presented with the trophy at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet on Dec. 8 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, such as Curry and McDonald, each week’s honored player is added at that time. Ohio State has two Bronko Nagurski Trophy winners in its past, the most recent being defensive end Chase Young in 2019.
Curry, a 6-3, 260-pound senior from Greenwood, Ind., packed a career game into the record-setting day as a constant nemesis in the Washington backfield. Beyond the career-high 11 tackles, five for loss, Curry had three sacks. The TFL total is the highest in a single game in Ohio State history, joining Chase Young (2019), Ryan Shazier (2013), John Simon (2012), Antonio Smith (2006), Andy Katzenmoyer (1996), Jayson Gwinn (1993) and Judah Herman (1991) on top of the list. Nine of Curry's 11 tackles were solo efforts.
The five tackles for loss are also the most by any player so far this season, and his three sacks ties him with 10 other players for the most sacks in a game. He lists third in the country with eight tackles for loss through four games and is No. 4 in sacks at five, which are second nationally when listed as sacks per game (1.25).
Ohio State is 13-0 in games Curry records a TFL. Curry was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after Ohio State held Washington to just 234 total yards and 61 on the ground aided by McDonald’s efforts from the inside.
McDonald, a 6-3, 326-pound junior from Suwanee, Ga., made seven tackles, including a highlight fourth-down sack in the fourth quarter. He took was a beast on Ohio State’s front with three TFL’s, two sacks and a quarterback hurry. The sack was the second of his career.
Constantly hampered by Curry and McDonald, Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. entered the game averaging over 73 yards per game on the ground and finished with minus-28.
The Buckeyes’ front has been the source of a defense that is currently No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (5.5 points allowed per game) and No. 8 in total defense (229.3 yards allowed per game) and has surrendered just two touchdowns in its first four games.
Ohio State continues Big Ten play Saturday hosting Minnesota in its conference home opener with a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff. on Peacock.
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 (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients since 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.
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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 FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.