Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Ohio State’s Caden Curry Named Walter Camp National FBS Players of the Week – Week 5 (Sept. 30)
The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced the Football Bowl Subdivision National Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for games ending September 27.
About the Award: This is the 22nd year that the Walter Camp Football Foundation will honor one offensive and one defensive player as its national Football Bowl Subdivision player of the week during the regular season. It is the nation’s longest running Player of Week award.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Graduate Student, Quarterback, Albuquerque, NM
Diego Pavia accounted for 400 yards of total offense and six touchdowns in Vanderbilt’s 55-35 win over Utah State. He completed 26-of-34 passes for 321 yards and a school-record-tying five touchdowns. Pavia also led the Commodores with 79 rushing yards and one touchdown on just nine carries. Vanderbilt is 5-0 for the first time since 2008.
Notes: It is the fourth time since 2004 that a Vanderbilt player has earned Walter Camp National FBS Player of Week honors. Pavia is the first Vandy honoree since former All-America linebacker Zach Cunningham (Oct. 15, 2016).
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior, Defensive End, Greenwood, IN
Caden Curry recorded a career-high 11 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, and three quarterback sacks in top-ranked Ohio State’s 24-6 win over Washington. Curry’s TFL total is the highest in a single game in Ohio State history, and the most by any FBS player this season. The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, Curry led a Buckeye defensive unit that held Washington to just 234 total yards, 61 on the ground.
Notes: It is the 15th time an Ohio State player has earned Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors since 2004, and the first since October 30, 2022, when former defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau was honored.
Considered the “Father of American Football,” Walter Camp introduced the play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side in 1880. Nine years later, Mr. Camp, then the Yale University head coach, selected the first-ever college football All-America team. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. Visit www.waltercamp.org for more information. The Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients dating back to 1935. This season, 13 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit NCFAA.org or follow on X at @NCFAA.
