Another day, another watch list senior safeties Darrick Forrest and James Wiggins have been added to. The seniors have been added to the 2020 Bronco Nagurski Trophy Watch List. Congrats to Forrest and Wiggins.
Per GoBearcats:
University of Cincinnati senior S Darrick Forrest (Columbus, Ohio/Walnut Ridge) and senior S James Wiggins (Miami, Florida/South Dade) were named to the watch list for the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy presented by LendingTree, the Football Writers Association of America, in conjunction with the Charlotte Touchdown Club announced Tuesday.
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. Bronislaw “Bronko” Nagurski dominated college football then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s. The 2020 watch list features 98 defensive standouts from 66 schools in all 10 Division I FBS conferences.
This is the third watch list for Forrest, who was named to initial projections for the Bednarik and Thorpe Awards. Wiggins is also on the Thorpe Award list and was named to Bruce Feldman’s College Football Freaks list for the third straight year.
BEDNARIK AWARD RELEASE • THORPE AWARD RELEASE • FELDMAN’S CFB FREAKS ($)
Forrest, a 2019 First-Team All-American Athletic Conference selection, was one of the leaders of UC’s defense which led the American in scoring defense for the second-straight season and also forced an AAC best 25 turnovers. He led UC and ranked No. 7 in the league in tackles, averaging 7.6 per game and totaling 106 tackles and three interceptions in 14 starts. He finished with a career-high 16 tackles against UCF, reset his career high in tackles three times this year while finishing with seven or more stops in 10 games. He had a career-long, 38-yard interception return against UConn and was the AAC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 25, 2019.
Wiggins missed the 2019 season after suffering an injury two days before the Bearcats’ opening game against UCLA. The three-time nominee to Bruce Feldman’s College Football Freaks list was a Second-Team All-AAC honoree in 2018 after tallying 54 tackles and four game-changing interceptions while showing a big-play flair in the secondary. His first career interception was in the second quarter of the opener at UCLA, which led to a Warren TD, giving UC a lead it would not relinquish. Interception No. 2 came in the waning minutes against Ohio when he jumped a route on the goal line to end the Bobcats scoring threat and seal the win for UC. Wiggins’ third interception came in overtime at SMU, an 86-yard interception return for a TD which gave UC its first extra-period win since 2008. The 86-yard run back was the fourth longest in school history and longest since current UC CB coach Mike Mickens had a 79-yard INT return for a TD against USF in 2007. His final interception of the year came late in the fourth quarter of the Military Bowl when he tracked down and hauled in a Hokies pass to seal UC’s first bowl win since 2012.
Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. As in previous years, the FWAA will announce a National Defensive Player of the Week each Tuesday this season. If not already on the watch list, each week’s honored player will be added at that time. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy.
The winner of the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy presented by LendingTree as the National Defensive Player of the Year will be chosen from those five finalists. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski Trophy finalists. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.
UC returns 16 of 22 starters on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, 55 letterwinners and 13 of the team’s top 15 tacklers from the 2019 team which won 11 games, the AAC East Division title and the Birmingham Bowl. The Bearcats ended the season ranked No. 21 in all three major polls, won 11 games for only the fourth time in the program’s 132 seasons and had back-to-back 11-win seasons for only the second time in school history.
The Bearcats are currently set to open 2020 on Thursday, Sept. 3 against Austin Peay inside Nippert Stadium.
