DALLAS (FWAA) – Miami safety Jakobe Thomas stole an interception, forced a fumble and had a sack Saturday as the Hurricanes went into Tallahassee, Fla., and recorded a 28-22 win over No. 18 Florida State. The takeaways and leadership behind a resurgent Miami defense has Thomas selected as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Players of the Week for the weekend of Oct. 4 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, including Thomas this week, each week’s honored player is added at that time. Miami has had two Bronko Nagurski Trophy winners in its past, the most recent being linebacker Dan Morgan in 2000. Warren Sapp won the award in 1994 when it was known as the FWAA National Defensive Player of the Year Award.
The standout game had Thomas with 5.0 tackles, one sack, the interception, a forced fumble and two pass breakups in what is Miami’s third win over a ranked opponent this season. He was also named the ACC’s Defensive Back of the Week.
Florida State entered the game with the nation’s best scoring offense (53 points per game) and total offense (600 yards per game) but were held to 404 total yards. Almost half of this (188) came in the fourth quarter when the ‘Canes (5-0) had built a 25-point lead.
Thomas, a 6-2, 200-pound fifth-year senior from Tullahoma, Tenn., transferred to Miami from Tennessee in the offseason, after he began his career at Middle Tennessee (2021-23). He is fourth on the team with 22 tackles and the interception and two pass breakups against Florida State were his firsts of the season.
Miami is idle this weekend. Its next game is Friday, Oct. 17, hosting Louisville at Hard Rock Stadium with a 7 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN2.
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.