DALLAS (FWAA) – Sophomore defensive end/linebacker Andre Porter provided UNLV’s first points Saturday in what became a defensive battle at Allegiant Stadium, and the Rebels needed all of them in a key 13-7 win over previously-undefeated North Dakota State. For his pick-six and a sack that halted a late Bison scoring drive and seal what is now UNLV's three-game win streak, Porter was selected as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for the weekend of Oct. 10 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.
Porter’s two key plays sparked UNLV, with the pick-six only five minutes into the game putting North Dakota State behind on the scoreboard for the first time this season. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound sophomore playing in his hometown of Las Vegas, snagged the interception and returned it 23 yards for what became the Rebels’ only touchdown. His fourth-quarter strip sack forced a fumble and led to an NDSU punt.
He finished the game with two tackles and stood out with the spark plays on the edge of a UNLV defense that held NDSU to the fewest points by a UNLV conference opponent at home since 2007. The Rebels stuffed both Bison fourth-down attempts, grabbed three interceptions and Porter’s was one of a pair of quarterback sacks.
Porter is currently tied for fifth in the Mountain West with 3.0 sacks. He is this week’s conference honoree as well and is UNLV’s third different player to earn MW Defensive Player of the Week honors this season.
He is a legacy Rebel whose parents both attended UNLV. His father, Donnell, lettered for the Rebels on defense in the early 1990s.
This younger Porter is in his third season with UNLV and continues to lead academically. He earned Academic All-Mountain West recognition in 2025 while appearing in all 14 games as a freshman with three total tackles with one sack. Porter was a member of the UNLV Dean’s Honor List in 2024 and named a Mountain West Scholar-Athlete.
Also in 2024 he was recognized as a member of the National Football Foundation’s 2024 Team of Distinction, one of just 84 student-athletes named to the team out of 3,500 high school seniors considered that spring.
Porter is UNLV’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 linebacker Jackson Woodard earned it in the opening week of the 2024 season, later also earning FWAA Second Team All-America honors. UNLV has not had a Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner or finalist in its past.
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 Porter this week, each week’s honored player is added at that time.
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. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.