DALLAS – After registering 16 tackles, forcing a fumble and leading a defense that held No. 23 Appalachian State to its lowest rushing total in six years during a 17-7 win over the Mountaineers, Marshall redshirt senior LB Tavante Beckett earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games during the weekend of Sept. 19. The Football Writers Association of America selects the award.
Beckett was all over the field Saturday for the Thundering Herd, amassing a career-high 16 tackles (eight solo) with one forced fumble in the 17-7 home win over 23rd-ranked Appalachian State. The 16 stops are the most by a Marshall man since Chase Hancock made 18 tackles against Southern Miss in 2017. Last season, App State averaged 231 rush yards per game, which ranked No. 16 in the country, and in the season opener the Mountaineers ran for 308 yards against Charlotte. On Saturday the Herd, led by co-captain Beckett, held them to 96 yards on 33 carries Saturday, their lowest total in a game since 2014.
Beckett’s 24 tackles in two games ranks second among all FBS players this season.
Following the win over Appalachian State, Marshall (2-0) moved in to the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since the 2014 season.
This marks the third straight season that a C-USA player has named the Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week. Louisiana Tech CB Amik Robertson earned it on Oct. 19, 2019 and Middle Tennessee S Reed Blankenship earned it on Oct. 27, 2018.
Each Tuesday 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 five finalists for the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy later this season. The national defensive player of the year will be chosen from those five finalists who are part of the 2020 FWAA All-America Team.
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.
