DALLAS (FWAA) – Oregon safety Verone McKinley III posted six tackles and helped seal a 35-28 win at No. 3 Ohio State with a late interception that gave the Ducks one of the young season's highlight wins. For snagging the game's only turnover and being a key to Oregon's first win over a top-five team in 10 years, McKinley earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games in the weekend of Sept. 11, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

Oregon's Verone McKinley III (Oregon Athletics)

This is the first time for an Oregon player to earn this weekly honor since it began in 2001. Oregon had a Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalist, Haloti Ngata, in 2005. McKinley has been added to this season's Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list.

McKinley, a 5-11, 194-pound sophomore from Carrollton, Texas, also forced a fumble and had two of Oregon's five pass breakups as he turned into a field general for a defense that was missing standout starters Kayvon Thibodeaux, an All-America lineman, and linebacker Justin Flowe. McKinley keyed in on run-stops as well with the six tackles that helped contain an Ohio State offense that gained 612 total yards but never led in the game. The Ducks had three fourth-down stops and held OSU to 6-of-15 third-down conversions.

The Buckeyes had just crossed midfield with four minutes remaining on what was a potential game-tying drive before one of Oregon's two sacks pushed them back. Facing third-and-18 at the Ohio State 45, McKinley got under a poorly-thrown ball in coverage to make his sixth career interception. He is just the second Oregon player since 2000 and the first since 2007 to finish with an interception, a forced fumble and multiple pass breakups in a single game.

McKinley showed his nose for the ball last year in six starts among the Ducks' seven games, finishing with 21 solo stops among his 41 total tackles that was third on the team. He snagged four interceptions as a redshirt freshman in 2019.

The win is Oregon's first over a top-five team since beating Stanford in 2011 and snapped Ohio State's 23-game home win streak.

The Ducks host Stony Brook at 4:30 p.m. PT Saturday in a Pac-12 Network broadcast.

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 three finalists for the 2021 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 17. The national defensive player of the year will be chosen from those finalists who are part of the 2021 FWAA All-America Team and presented with the trophy at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet presented by LendingTree on Dec. 6 at the Charlotte Convention Center

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.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and gameday operations while presenting awards and honors, including an annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its programs and initiatives, contact Executive Director Steve Richardson at 214-870-6516 or tiger@fwaa.com.

About the Charlotte Touchdown Club
The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 for the purpose of promoting high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, N.C., region. The club's activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding citizenship, scholarship, sportsmanship, and leadership of area athletes and coaches. Since 1990, the club has raised and donated nearly $3 million to benefit area high school and collegiate athletics. For more information, contact John Rocco (704-347-2918 or jrocco@touchdownclub.com). The official website of the Charlotte Touchdown Club is touchdownclub.com.

About LendingTree, Inc.
LendingTree is the nation's leading online marketplace that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. LendingTree empowers consumers to shop for financial services the same way they would shop for airline tickets or hotel stays, by comparing multiple offers from a nationwide network of over 500 partners in one simple search and choosing the option that best fits their financial needs. Services include mortgage loans, mortgage refinances, auto loans, personal loans, business loans, student refinances, credit cards, insurance and more. Through the My LendingTree platform, consumers receive free credit scores, credit monitoring and recommendations to improve credit health. My LendingTree proactively compares consumers' credit accounts against offers on their network and notifies consumers when there is an opportunity to save money. LendingTree's purpose is to help simplify financial decisions for life's meaningful moments through choice, education and support.

2021 Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Players of the Week
• Weekend of Sept. 4: Jordan Davis, DT, Georgia
• Weekend of Sept. 11: Verone McKinley III, S, Oregon
• Weekend of Sept. 18: Jared Bartlett, DE, West Virginia
• Weekend of Sept. 25: Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa
• Weekend of Oct. 2: Khoury Bethley, S, Hawaii
• Weekend of Oct. 9: Matt Hankins, CB, Iowa
• Weekend of Oct. 16: Will Anderson Jr., LB, Alabama
• Weekend of Oct. 23: Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE/LB, Oregon
• Weekend of Oct. 30: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, DE, Kansas State
• Weekend of Nov. 6: Steven Jones Jr., CB, App State

Related links:
• Bronko Nagurski Trophy (All-Time Winners, Finalists and Players of the Week)
• Download the Bronko Nagurski Trophy presented by LendingTree logo: Primary (.jpg) | Primary (.eps)