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 to seal a win that gave UNLV a three-game 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 as 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.

DALLAS (FWAA) – Louisville offensive lineman Lance Robinson started at right tackle on Friday night, played most of the evening at left tackle and a series at center and helped clear the way for the Cardinals to roll up 397 rushing yards and six touchdowns in a 44-20 homefield romp over Florida State. For his efforts up front, Robinson was selected as the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Oct. 10, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

This is the fourth season for the FWAA to select an Outland Trophy National Player of the Week as part of the NCFAA’s weekly national honors from 12 awards. The recipient of the 2026 Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN on Dec. 11. The official presentation to the winner will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 27, 2027.

Robinson is the first Louisville player to earn the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honor. The weekly winners are added to the award’s preseason watch list going forward. Robinson was already a preseason member of that list.

The 6-foot-4, 295-pound fifth-year player from Camilla, Ga., played all 58 snaps at three positions in the win as Louisville ran for 397 yards, the second-most rushing yards ever allowed by Florida State. Robinson started and played at right tackle for eight plays, then anchored down at left tackle for 47 and played center for three plays.

The ACC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week, Robinson and the Louisville line paved the way for running back Isaac Brown’s career-best 235 yards, the most rushing yards by an FBS player in a game this season. One of his two touchdowns came on an electric 97-yard run, the longest play from scrimmage in program history, and tying for this season’s longest run in the FBS. Robinson graded out at 90 percent with three knockdowns per the Louisville staff and paced Brown to become the ACC’s Running Back of the Week.

Louisville’s six rushing touchdowns were the most by the Cardinals against an FBS opponent in 10 seasons.

Robinson has started every game for Louisville this season, and at three different positions. He started at left tackle for the opener against Ole Miss and again the next week against Villanova. He then started at center for three games, his native position if he has one and where he was posted as part of the preseason Outland Trophy Watch List, before moving to right tackle at the start of Friday’s game. He soon slotted over back to left tackle for the remainder.

It was a banner day for Robinson, the Cardinals’ most experienced player with 43 career starts, and their most tenured player in a career that spans back to playing at Middle Tennessee in 2020. Robinson started at right tackle in the 2025 season opener, then moved to left guard and started the final nine games of the season there, earning Honorable Mention All-ACC honors. He played two seasons at Middle Tennessee (2020-21) and one at Houston (2022) before making his Louisville debut in the 2023 Holiday Bowl. He missed the 2024 season after suffering an injury in fall camp.

Louisville has never had an Outland Trophy winner.

The FWAA will announce the Outland Trophy semifinalists on Nov. 18, and those players will then be paired down to three finalists announced on Nov. 24. The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from those finalists who will be part of the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends and edge rushers are not eligible.

The Outland Trophy, celebrating 81 years since its founding, is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.

The Outland 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.

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The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, founded in 1977, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, consisting of more than 1,300 men and women from the City of Omaha, the State of Nebraska, and others. The Committee serves to communicate, develop, initiate and promote sports activities in the Greater Omaha sports area. In addition to the Outland Trophy Award Events and Dinner, the Greater Omaha Sports Committee promotes high school, college, and professional sports in the Greater Omaha area and the Midwest.  For more information contact Bob Mancuso Jr., Chairman at bmancuso@showofficeonline.com or see showofficeonline.com.

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.