|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A pair of top talents playing at Palmetto State universities landed on the 2024 watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy – presented annually to the top defensive player in the NCAA.
According to a news release from the Dallas, Texas-based Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), sophomore defensive end Peter Woods – a 6-foot-2, 315-pound sophomore from Alabaster, Alabama – has made the preseason watch list. Woods, 19, was a freshman All-American at Clemson, where he recorded 27 tackles – including 2.5 tackles for loss – in his first season with the Tigers.
A sports communication major, Woods was the No. 9 overall prospect in the nation in 2023.
***
Also on the list? South Carolina linebacker Debo Williams – a 6-foot-1, 232-pound redshirt senior from Smyrna, Delaware. Williams, 22, logged 113 tackles for the Gamecocks in 2023 – including 9 tackles for loss and one sack. He led the team – and ranked third in the SEC – in total tackles.
In 2022, he recorded 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
A mass communications major, Williams started his college career at the University of Delaware but did not play for the Blue Hens as a result of the season being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
***
Woods and Williams will have plenty of competition for this honor – including 2023 winner Xavier Watts of Notre Dame and 2023 finalist Malaki Starks of Georgia.
Clemson enters the 2024 season coming off of a disappointing campaign in which the program failed to win at least ten games for the first time since 2010. As for South Carolina, the Gamecocks posted a 5-7 record last year in their third season under head coach Shane Beamer.
The Tigers open their upcoming slate at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, August 31, 2024 against presumed No. 1 Georgia in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. As for South Carolina, it hosts Old Dominion at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. at 4:15 p.m. EDT later that afternoon.
The FWAA has selected a recipient for the Nagurski trophy since 1995. The award is named in honor of Canadian-born Bronislau Nagurski, a former fullback for the Chicago Bears who was a charter member of both the college and professional football Halls of Fame.
In coordination with the Charlotte Touchdown Club, the FWAA will present the Nagurski Trophy to its next winner on December 9, 2024. Finalists will be announced two weeks earlier, while the FWAA will name a national defensive player of the week each Tuesday beginning in September.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
