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FWAA Names Five Finalists for 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy

Five finalists for the 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, including last season's winner James Laurinaitis of Ohio St., were announced this week by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

Vying for the honor of the best defensive football player in college football are linebaker James Laurinaitis, LSU's defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, defensive ends Chris Long of Virginia and George Selvie of South Florida and cornerback Aqib Talib of Kansas.

The winner will be announced on Dec. 3 and presented the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in Charlotte, N.C., where Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer will give the keynote address.

NFL Rookies of the Week – Chiefs’ WR Dwayne Bowe & Browns CB Eric Wright

The NFL ’07 season enters the final two months with several rookies emerging as bona fide playmakers. Chiefs' wide receiver Dwayne Bowe continues his fine rookie season after being selected in the 1st round with the 23rd overall player last April. In the loss to the Broncos last week, he caught 9 passes for 105 yards in a losing cause. He has been very productive since early in the season and leads all rookies with 38 receptions for over 600 yards and a 15 yard + average per catch, in addition to 3 TDs. He is on pace for a 100 yard receiving season, a rare feat for any rookie wideout.

College Player of the Week by Draft Insiders.com – Hawaii’s QB Colt Brennan Ties NCAA TD passing Record
Nov.14
Hawaii’s QB Colt Brennan wins the College Player of the Week by Draft Insiders.com after another outstanding performance last week vs Fresno St. Brennan threw 2 TD passes for 396 yards plus ran for 1 TD that lead to an impressive 37-30 victory that improved the Rainbows perfect record to 9-0. The victory moved Hawaii higher into the top ten rankings and one of two undefeated clubs, Kansas being the other. Brennan left with a minor concussion injury that left his status for the Thursday night ESPN game vs Nevada this week probable at this point. He tied an NCAA career mark for TD passes with 121 career scoring passes set in 1991 by BYU QB Ty Detmer. He has three regular season games remaining to break the career record.

Top 16 Teams - Nov. 11
LSU moves into #1 Ranking as Ohio St. falls to Illinois

Team of the Week – Illinois
Frank Coyle - Head Scout - Draft Insiders

The college football top 25 rankings continue an amazing season with another major change with #1 rated Ohio St. falling from the unbeaten ranks. LSU moves into the #1 spot and is in good position for a BCS berth with a strong finish. The Ohio St. loss leaves only Kansas and Hawaii undefeated at this point of the season. The top 10 teams shuffled once again with several big upsets that affected the rankings especially Ohio St and Michigan which play their rivalry match next week. The former top ranked club, Ohio St got beat by a good Illinois club soundly and continues to be the most improved team in the nation and Big Ten. Oregon was idle but is in good position to challenge for the national title over the final weeks. Several clubs moved into our top 16 positions as a result of a few changes, Texas, Florida, Illinois and Cincinnati.

Maxwell ’07 Award Semifinalist List
Maxwell Football club announced the award semi-finalist list this week. QB Matt Ryan of Boston College heads a strong class of skilled position players, all enjoying impressive ’07 campaigns. Ryan is probably the nation's most improved player and the fastest rising pro prospect among senior performers.

The respective lists include a field of fifteen candidates for each of these awards as selected by the Maxwell Football Club Advisory Committee. The winner will be announced at the 71st Maxwell Award and presented during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show that will be broadcast on ESPN on Thursday, December 6, 2007. Three finalists for the award will be in attendance for the ESPN broadcast. The Maxwell Football Club will announce the winner of the 19th George Munger Award via a press release in December. The formal presentation of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club’s Awards Dinner, to be held on Friday, March 7, 2008 at the Harrah’s Entertainment Complex in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Arizona’s Antoine Cason Heads Jim Thorpe '07 Award 12 Semi-Finalists
The Jim Thorpe Association announced this week the 12 semi-finalists for its 2007 Jim Thorpe Award. The award is presented annually to the nation’s best college defensive back.
On Nov. 19, the list will be trimmed to three finalists who will be invited to the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show on Dec. 6. The winner will be announced on the show. The official presentation of the Jim Thorpe Award will be at a formal banquet in Oklahoma City on Feb. 12, 2008.
The 2007 award marks the 21st anniversary of the trophy, first presented in 1986 to Baylor’s Thomas Everett. Last year’s winner was University of Texas standout Aaron Ross, now playing for the New York Giants after being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft ‘07.

NFL Rookie Players of the Week – Vikings’ runner Adrian Peterson & Jets backer David Harris

Peterson projected as Top Rookie Impact Performer in May ’07
Excerpt from Draft Insiders Review May ’07 – “The Vikings were surprised that RB Adrian Peterson was available in the first round and quickly selected him. He is a blue chip back with the power to run inside and the speed to hit the home run and was a great addition to this attack. His injured shoulder left some concerns, though he should compete and win the feature back role in camp. He has the makeup to be a major impact performer here if he proves durable over the demanding NFL schedule.�