logo
LSU football linebacker Whit Weeks named to Bronco Nagurski award watchlist

LSU football linebacker Whit Weeks named to Bronco Nagurski award watchlist

Yahoo30-07-2025
LSU football linebacker Whit Weeks was named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, announced Tuesday.
The annual award is presented to the top defensive player in college football. LSU has just one Nagurski award winner in its history -- defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. He won the trophy in 2007 after totaling 69 tackles and seven sacks. South Carolina's Kyle Kennard earned the recognition last year.
A rising junior, Weeks ranked second in the SEC last year with 56 stops and 25 pressures. He led the Tigers with 125 tackles while also adding 10 tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries, 3.5 sacks, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and an interception.
Weeks took a big step forward as a sophomore under first-year defensive coordinator Blake Baker, ranking among the top five in multiple statistical categories within the conference. Similar progression in 2025 would further increase his NFL Draft stock and put LSU's defense in a position to contain some of the nation's most potent offenses.
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU star LB Whit Weeks named to Bronco Nagurski award watchlist
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

College football Top 25: Does No. 7 LSU have what it takes to get back into national title hunt?
College football Top 25: Does No. 7 LSU have what it takes to get back into national title hunt?

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

College football Top 25: Does No. 7 LSU have what it takes to get back into national title hunt?

College football officially begins this month. Now that it's August, there are less than three weeks until Kansas State and Iowa State meet in Dublin to begin the 2025 regular season. And since the season is quickly approaching, we're rolling out our preseason Top 25. Next up in our rankings is the No. 7 team, and the rest will be revealed in the coming days. (All odds are from BetMGM.) Previously: Nos. 11 through 25, No. 10 Miami, No. 9 Alabama, No. 8 Notre Dame No. 7 LSU 2024 record: 9-4 National championship odds: 15-1 Odds to make College Football Playoff: +130 2024 in 100 words The Tigers lost another opener. LSU fell 27-20 to USC to start the season before reeling off six straight wins. That streak included a three-point victory at South Carolina and a three-point win over Ole Mis in overtime. Any chances LSU had of making the playoff disappeared after that, however. The Tigers lost three straight games after climbing to No. 8 in the AP Top 25. LSU lost 38-23 at Texas A&M, 42-13 at home to Alabama and 27-16 at Florida before beating Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Baylor in the Texas Bowl to end the season. The quarterback Garrett Nussmeier The son of longtime college football coach Doug Nussmeier began his first full season as a starter on fire after taking over for 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels. Nussmeier threw for 18 TD passes over LSU's first six games. However, he threw just four TD passes over the next four games as LSU slumped away from the playoff race. Nussmeier rebounded as LSU did at the end of the season and threw for seven TDs over the final three games while completing over 70% of his passes in that stretch. He finished the 2024 season completing 64% of his passes for 4,052 yards and 29 TDs to just 12 interceptions. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Nussmeier said at SEC media days that he'd been watching film all offseason to figure out where he could be better in 2025. 'For one, just having last year to be able to go back and now and watch, study. This entire offseason has been about that for me, just watching all parts of the game, seeing the areas where I need to be critical on myself and improve at, whether it's taking care of the football or using my legs more in situations that I need to,' Nussmeier said. 'But it's also been about seeing the things I did well also. Having confidence in that and confidence this is what I was able to do in Year 1. And now it's just all I've got to do is raise the floor.' With LSU's offense adding even more skill position through the transfer portal, Nussmeier could be in line for an even bigger season. He's currently the No. 2 favorite for the Heisman Trophy at BetMGM with odds of +900. Only Texas QB Arch Manning (+600) has lower odds. Non-QB to watch WR Barion Brown How will LSU's offense utilize the speedy Kentucky transfer? Brown played a key role in each of his three seasons in Lexington, though his receiving numbers declined every year. After catching 50 passes for 628 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman, Brown had just 29 grabs for 361 yards and three TDs in 2024. Granted, Kentucky's quarterback situation didn't help matters. Brown will be playing with the best QB he's ever had in Nussmeier. His receiving stats should end up being better than they've ever been before. Brown could also be a real weapon in the return game for the Tigers. He has 50 career kick returns for 1,465 yards and five touchdowns. He and Zavion Thomas (24 returns for 633 yards in 2024) will be a fearsome duo for opposing teams to kick to. Best position group Wide receiver This group could be the best receiving corps LSU has fielded since its 2019 team had the likes of Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Terrace Marshall. Aaron Anderson returns after he had 61 catches for 884 yards and five scores a season ago. In addition to Brown, Nic Anderson also arrives in Baton Rouge via Oklahoma. He was hindered by injury all last season, but had 38 catches for 798 yards and 10 TDs as a redshirt freshman in 2023. Chris Hilton played in just six games in 2024 but had nine catches for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas had only 218 receiving yards a year ago too, but had over 500 in 2023 at Mississippi State. It's a very deep unit that should open up things for a run game that struggled at times in 2024. Biggest game Aug. 30 at Clemson It's time for LSU to win a season opener. The team hasn't won its first game of the season since that 2019 title season. In 2020, LSU lost to Mississippi State. In 2021, LSU lost at UCLA. The next two seasons included season-opening defeats to Florida State and then there was that loss to USC a year ago. LSU head coach Brian Kelly knows the significance of being 1-0 for the first time in six years. 'We open up with a great program in Clemson. I know Dabo [Swinney] very well. Respect him and his program and the accomplishments they've had,' Kelly said. 'We played against each other several times when I was at Notre Dame and just have a ton of respect.' 'But we've also been 0-3 in openers at LSU under my watch. We needed to do some things differently this year. That is embrace this opener. Embracing it in a manner that this is a big game. It's a tangible goal for our football team to want to be 1-0. That's not,' let's warm up into the season.' We want to be ready for this football game. So we're doing everything in our power to give our players the opportunity for that success.' Why LSU is No. 7 The season is not lost with a Week 1 defeat at Clemson. Thanks to a monstrous SEC schedule, LSU will have plenty of opportunity to be in the playoff race. The Tigers have games against Florida, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Alabama and Oklahoma in 2025. A win against Clemson will help the margin for error in that SEC gauntlet. Alabama missed out on the College Football Playoff a season ago with a 9-3 record. It only feels like a matter of time before a three-loss team gets into the playoff. But we're certain that LSU doesn't want to be the first team to test that theory. Along with what could be an explosive offense, the Tigers bring back three of their top five tacklers on defense and bolstered the unit via the transfer portal. Linebacker Harold Perkins should be fully healthy after an ACL injury cut short his 2024 season. He's also moved to the Star linebacker spot under defensive coordinator Blake Baker. It's yet another position change for Perkins after he had 13 sacks over his first two seasons with the Tigers. If he gets the chance to rush the passer more often in 2025, he'll have help from former Florida State edge rusher Patrick Payton. He's tallied 16 sacks over the past three seasons. Defensive back A.J. Haulcy also arrives from Houston, where he had 74 tackles and five interceptions in 2024. After five straight seasons with at least three losses, this is LSU's best chance to compete for a national title since that iconic 2019 campaign. The schedule is a gauntlet, but this team should be well-equipped to navigate it.

Florida star QB DJ Lagway's injury raises concern about College Football Playoff run
Florida star QB DJ Lagway's injury raises concern about College Football Playoff run

USA Today

timean hour ago

  • USA Today

Florida star QB DJ Lagway's injury raises concern about College Football Playoff run

It doesn't matter how it happened, only that it did. And that the long- and short-term future for one of college football's top young players is now in question. Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is quickly becoming Mr. Glass. Shoulder, hamstring and core injuries in his first year in Gainesville, and now a calf injury in fall camp. 'I'm not an injury-prone guy,' Lagway said last month during SEC media days. Then a left calf strain arrived before the start of fall camp, and now the inevitable is here: when and how could the glass crack again? Lagway missed time or didn't participate full-go throughout the entire offseason, multiple injuries not only stalling his development - but also leaving the Gators' 2025 resurgence in question. In one short year, Lagway's injury timeline has moved from unlucky to unnerving. Whether it's increased level of competition, intensity of training or just plain bad luck, four injuries (two relatively serious) before the start of Lagway's second season is cause for concern. More problematic: it's not a long or difficult a jump from calf strain to much bigger problem. Especially since we've seen it of late among the greatest athletes in sports. Aaron Rodgers and Tyrese Halliburton dealt with calf strains in the last two years, and both strains preceded season-ending Achilles injuries. Kevin Durant's Achilles injury in 2019 started with a calf strain, too. But before we go down that rabbit hole and scuttle the season for a rising star quarterback and a team with College Football Playoff hopes, before we make too much of Lagway wearing a compression wrap on his left calf in practice, maybe he's not Mr. Glass at all. Maybe he just got dinged more times than most. 'The whole injury thing, for the most part, is relatively new for me,' Lagway said last month, and he hasn't spoke to media since. 'I feel better than I ever have right now.' It was last month when Lagway admitted to USA TODAY Sports that the throwing shoulder injury didn't occur during his breakout freshman season as most believed, but that it was something he dealt with the entire season. A season in which he won every game he started and finished. His 6-1 record overall as a starter included a lone loss to Georgia, where he left late in the second quarter with a hamstring injury — with the Gators leading 10-3. Other than that, Lagway's freshman season (even with modest numbers) was high-level production in the nation's most difficult conference. He has had soreness in the shoulder since high school, and has typically used rehabilitation instead of surgery to overcome pain and stiffness. The shoulder injury (and the core injury) forced him to miss throwing in spring practice. Then the calf injury showed up before fall camp, and despite the soreness, Lagway has been throwing and looks sharper than ever. The only question now: will the calf hold up? 'The guy's been working hard all summer,' Florida coach Billy Napier said earlier this week. 'Certainly, hopefully, he'll be able to do more and more as we go day-to-day.' That's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it's also all Napier and Florida have to hold. Because with Lagway, Florida is a legitimate threat to reach the College Football Playoff. Without him – and with sixth-year nomad Harrison Bailey or former walk-on Aidan Warner playing quarterback – the Gators may have problems reaching bowl eligibility. Earlier this week, former Alabama coach Nick Saban – speaking during his Nick's Kid's Foundation event – said five teams could win the SEC this season. One of those teams was Florida. ARCH MADNESS: Rumors with Nick Saban and Cleveland Browns are plain dumb TOUGH ROADS: College football toughest schedules based on preseason poll Even with the uncertainty of Lagway's health, or the nation's toughest schedule. Which, frankly, Napier and the team are getting tired of talking about. Spot the ball, they all say now. Doesn't matter that the schedule includes games away from Gainesville against Georgia, LSU, Miami, Texas A&M and Mississippi, and home games against Texas and Tennessee, Florida played the same schedule last year. And by the end of the regular season (and with a healthy Lagway), the Gators were playing as well as anyone in the SEC. There's a lot to like about this Florida team, one that Napier has patiently and organically built through high school recruiting instead of relying on the crapshoot that is the transfer portal. An experienced and deep offensive line, some of the SEC's best young skill players and a defense that developed last year with Lagway. In the six games Lagway started and completed, the Florida defense gave up an average of 13.1 points per game. In the other seven games, the Gators gave up an average of 31.5. 'He makes everyone better,' Napier said. 'That's what rare players do.' If they can stay on the field. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

LSU women's basketball releases complete schedule for 2025-26 season: Dates and matchups
LSU women's basketball releases complete schedule for 2025-26 season: Dates and matchups

USA Today

timean hour ago

  • USA Today

LSU women's basketball releases complete schedule for 2025-26 season: Dates and matchups

LSU women's basketball released its schedule for the 2025-26 season. The Tigers run back a starting lineup with returning guards Flau'Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams and expect to make another NCAA Tournament run. Head coach Kim Mulkey's staff added key transfer portal forwards, led by Notre Dame transfer Kate Koval, along with signing the nation's top recruiting class. The group now knows who they'll be facing off against and the locations. LSU begins the year with two exhibition games against Mississippi College and Langston inside the PMAC before the season opener against Houston Christian on November 4. The Tigers welcome in-state rival Southeastern Louisiana two days later. On November 17, the Tigers hit the road for the first time, heading to New Orleans to face Tulane. Eleven days later, they travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam, where they will face Marist, followed by either Miami-Ohio or Washington State. LSU heads to Durham to face Duke on December 4 as part of the ACC/SEC challenge, then continues its road trip against New Orleans three days later. It opens SEC play against Kentucky on January 1, then travels to Vanderbilt and Georgia, who beat the Tigers to close out the regular season last year Texas is the lone opponent on the 16-game SEC schedule that LSU faces twice. The first matchup will be in the PMAC and will mark the most difficult opponent to date. It will be the first time the two teams face off in Baton Rouge since the Longhorns joined the conference. They beat LSU in both contests last year. Alabama comes to the PMAC on February 1, but the Crimson Tide will have a new look after multiple key contributors departed from the team that took LSU to overtime last year. Following that contest is the second game against Texas, this one in Austin. Mulkey comes face to face with South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley inside the PMAC when the Gamecocks come to town on February 14. It will be LSU transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley's first game against her former team. She scored eight points in South Carolina's 66-56 victory. Tennessee heads to Baton Rouge on February 26 in its second year under head coach Kim Caldwell. After closing out the season at Mississippi State, LSU starts its bid for an SEC Tournament title. The postseason begins March 4 then the NCAA Tournament commences March 18.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store