Temple safety Benny Walls returned a fumble for a touchdown, intercepted a pass had six tackles to lead the Owls to a dominating 24-2 win over Georgia Tech. For the two takeaways as well as 139 return yards, Walls has earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Sept. 28, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.
Walls, a senior from Cinnaminson, N.J., is the first Temple player to earn the FWAA's National Defensive Player of the Week since 2015 when Tyler Matakevich won the weekly honor on his way to winning the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.
The win was Temple's best defensive performance in four seasons, as the Owls allowed their fewest points since shutting out Tulane on Nov. 16, 2016. Walls' two takeaways were a key in the defensive shutout. In the third quarter, he scooped up a fumble on a strip-sack by defensive tackle Ifeanyi Maijeh and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown that extended Temple's lead to 21-0. In the fourth quarter, with Georgia Tech at the Temple 14-yard line, Walls picked off a pass in the end zone and returned it 65 yards to thwart the drive.
"I saw the quarterback scrambling out and then saw Ifeanyi Maijeh and Chapelle Russell hit him," Walls said.
"I saw the ball bounce out. I wasn't going to fall on it – I grabbed it since it was in front of me and picked it up and scored. We always harp on running to the ball in practice. It came right to me. I hadn't scored a touchdown since I was a senior in high school."
Walls is third on the Owls in total tackles with 22, with 19 of them solo efforts. He also has a half-sack this season.
2019 Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Players of the Week
• Weekend of Aug. 31: Alijah Halliburton, Wyoming
• Weekend of Sept. 7: Evan Weaver, Cal
• Weekend of Sept. 14: David Reese II, Florida
• Weekend of Sept. 21: Demetrius Taylor, Appalachian State
• Weekend of Sept. 28: Benny Walls, Temple