DALLAS (FWAA) – Justin Powe tied the Troy school record with three interceptions last Thursday, including one he returned 37 yards for a touchdown, within an impressive defensive showing in the Trojans’ 24-21 overtime win at James Madison. The free safety’s takeaways plus two pass break ups and seven total tackles helped change the game in Troy’s upset and earned Powe the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for the weekend of Oct. 31 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.
Powe, a 6-foot, 210-pound fifth-year player from Mobile, Ala., is the first player since 2017 and just the fifth player since at least 1995 with three interceptions, seven tackles, two pass break-ups and an interception return for a touchdown in a single game per the school. The interceptions were the safety’s first of the season and his first career game with multiple interceptions.
Trailing 21-7 at the half having given up 236 total yards to that point, Powe changed the trajectory of the game. On the second play of the second half, Powe stepped in front of a JMU pass and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown. It was Powe's second interception of the game, with all three picks happening within a span of 9:50 of game clock from the end of the second quarter to the middle of the third as Troy mounted its rally.
The Trojans scored another third-quarter touchdown to get even at 21-21. Powe added another key play as he broke up JMU’s Hail Mary pass in the end zone on the game’s final play of regulation. The JMU receiver had the ball before Powe disrupted the pass, sending the game to overtime as the Troy defense held the Dukes scoreless over the final 38:41 of regulation. Hayden Wolfe kicked the game-winning 27-yard field goal as the Trojans avenged last year's loss in the Sun Belt Championship Game and ended the Dukes' 11-game home winning streak.
Powe is the first Troy player with three interceptions in a game since 2014. The five takeaways are the most by a Troy team since 2022 and the sixth-most in a game nationally this season. Troy has held teams to fewer than 150 yards passing four times this season, the eighth-best mark in the FBS.
Troy’s only returning starter on defense, Powe is the Trojans' second-leading tackler with 54, 27 of them solo. At present he is the top-ranked safety in the FBS (min. 420 snaps) per PFF with an 89.9 grade. He is also third nationally among safeties with a 89.7 coverage grade. Powe entered the season having played 1,512 career snaps for the Trojans and now has 18 consecutive starts at safety and 33 in his career.
Powe is Troy’s first player to be honored as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week since its origin in 2001. The Trojans have not had a Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner in their past.
The Trojans (4-4, 2-2 in the Sun Belt) host a key conference game Saturday against Louisiana Tech (6-2, 4-0) trying to stay in contention for first place in a West Division they have won in three of the last four seasons. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
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 Brawley 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.