Ohio LB Poling honored as FWAA National Defensive Player of the Week
DALLAS -- Ohio linebacker Quentin Poling has been named the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for games of the week of Sept. 20.
Poling, a 6-0, 219-pound redshirt freshman from Spencerville, Ohio, paced the Bobcats' defense with 14 tackles and three interceptions (77 return yards) in a 36-24 victory over Idaho. It was the first time a Bobcat player had recorded three interceptions in a game since Tevell Jones against Bowling Green in 1997. With this week's honor, Poling will be added to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List.
Each Tuesday during the 2014 season the Football Writers Association of America All-America Committee will select a National Defensive Player of the Week from nominations made by the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences, major independents, and National Players of the Week from the FCS.
Five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy will be announced by the FWAA on Nov. 20. The winner of the FWAA's National Defensive Player of the Year Award will be revealed on Dec. 8 during a banquet hosted by the Charlotte Touchdown Club and sponsored by ACN at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. Alabama head coach Nick Saban is slated as the keynote speaker.
The FWAA has sponsored a National Defensive Player of the Year Award since 1993 and has named a National Defensive Player of the Week since the 2001 season. Jarrett will be added to the 2014 Bronko Nagurski Watch List.
In 2007, the FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Cub added the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, which is sponsored by Florida East Coast Railway. A top defensive player from a past FWAA All-America team (1974) is the annual recipient of that award. Former Maryland and Dallas Cowboys' star Randy White will accept the 2014 Legends Award.
The Bronko Nagurski TrophyThe Bronko Nagurski Trophy is given in memory of the legendary All-American lineman at Minnesota (1927-29). Nagurski dominated college football at Minnesota as a bruising fullback and defensive tackle and could have been an All-America at any position. He then became a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s.
**Football Writers Association of America press release
