FWAA 2026 Season News

Ole Miss defensive tackle Will Echoles pressured the LSU backfield all night, making three tackles behind the line of scrimmage and a sack, as the No. 8 Rebels won the weekend’s most-hyped matchup in dramatic fashion over No. 7 LSU, 32-24. For his play up front in leading the Rebels’ charge in front of a Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium record crowd, Echoles earned the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Sept. 19, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

Two fourth-quarter takeaways were the highlights of a tremendous overall game Saturday by Arizona State linebacker Owen Long. The junior’s fumble recovery and interception came late in the Sun Devils’ 24-17 win over Kansas in the Union Jack Classic at London’s Wembley Stadium and led to him being selected as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for the weekend of Sept. 19 by the Football Writers Association of America.

he Kentucky Wildcats scored 21 unanswered points in a dominant third quarter and stunned No. 9 Texas A&M, 31-21, before 105,186 fans at Kyle Field. For defeating a 16½-point favorite and delivering first-year head coach Will Stein’s first Southeastern Conference and ranked victory, Kentucky earned the Pop-Tarts Bowl Crazy Good Team of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Sept. 19, as selected by the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America.

Each week during the 2026 season, we highlight the notable performances of first-year players and head coaches leading up to the selection of our annual Freshman All-America Team and the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award presented by Chris Doering Mortgage. Here are the top performances from Week 3, the weekend of Sept. 19.

Texas' Trevor Goosby is the first weekly nominee for 2026 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. Goosby, a fourth-year left tackle, has overcome open-heart surgery as a teenager, along with multiple other injuries, to become a leader for the now top-ranked Longhorns.

Texas offensive tackle Trevor Goosby was a catalyst of Texas’ dramatic 24-23 comeback win over No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday, anchoring the protection for Arch Manning to engineer three consecutive touchdown drives to end the game and bring the Longhorns back. For his top-scoring blocking grade and backfield security, Goosby earned the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Sept. 12, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

Boston College linebacker Anthony Palano posted a career day Saturday against Rutgers, leading his team with nine tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss with two fourth-quarter interceptions that sealed the Eagles’ 28-21 win over in the Red Bandanna Game. For the shut-down defensive play, Palano was selected as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys rebounded from a season-opening defeat with one of the biggest upsets in program history, overwhelming No. 6 Oregon statistically and answering the Ducks’ fourth-quarter rally to earn a 39-31 victory at Boone Pickens Stadium. For knocking off a 23½-point favorite and snapping a 12-game losing streak, Oklahoma State earned the Pop-Tarts Bowl Crazy Good Team of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Sept. 12, as selected by the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America.

Each week during the 2026 season, we highlight the notable performances of first-year players and head coaches leading up to the selection of our annual Freshman All-America Team and the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award presented by Chris Doering Mortgage. Here are the top performances from Week 2, the weekend of Sept. 12: 

Auburn safety Eric Winters made a game-saving tackle on a two-point conversion attempt, stopping a Baylor receiver inches away from the goal line in the final 10 seconds to preserve the Tigers’ 17-16 win Saturday. His career day in just his second start has Winters selected as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America.

DALLAS (FWAA) – Colorado two-way lineman Chauncey Gooden started at guard and bolstered a power running game, then came in on the defensive front and contributed to the Buffaloes’ final stop that sealed a 14-13 win at Georgia Tech. For his efforts on both sides of the line, Gooden earned the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Sept. 5, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

The Massachusetts Minutemen scored 30 consecutive points and forced four turnovers in a commanding 37-21 victory at Rutgers, earning the season’s first Pop-Tarts Bowl Crazy Good Team of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Sept. 5, as selected by the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America.

Each week during the 2026 season, we highlight the notable performances of first-year players and head coaches leading up to the selection of our annual Freshman All-America Team and the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award presented by Chris Doering Mortgage. Here are the top performances from Week 1, the weekend of Sept. 5.

DALLAS (FWAA) — The Football Writers Association of America, in partnership with Pop-Tarts and Florida Citrus Sports, will celebrate the 25th season of its National Team of the Week in 2026 with the return of the Pop-Tarts Bowl Crazy Good National Team of the Week.

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The Football Writers Association of America released its 2026 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List today, selecting three returning FWAA All-Americans among 68 defensive standouts as contenders for the national defensive player of the year. The list hosts players from 47 different schools and all 10 Division I FBS conferences plus Independents.

The Football Writers Association of America has announced the preseason watch list for the 2026 Outland Trophy, recognizing 68 returning standout interior linemen representing all 10 of the FBS conferences plus Independents. The watch list features players spread among 49 different Division I FBS programs and includes two returning first-team FWAA All-Americans.

Brett Ciancia, the founder and owner of Pick Six Previews, is the seventh winner of the  Edward Aschoff Rising Star Award, which is presented annually by the Football Writers Association of America. The award is named after Edward Aschoff, the beloved ESPN college football reporter who died on Christmas Eve in 2019 on his 34th birthday from previously undetected Stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in his lungs.

Tony Casillas received the news a few weeks ago that he had been named the winner of the 2026 Nagurski Legends Award. He was overwhelmed when he opened his mail and read the letter from the Charlotte Touchdown Club and the FWAA that he had been selected as the recipient, more than four decades after being named an FWAA All-American with the Sooners in 1984 and '85.