Kentucky safety Jordan Castell continues to rake in player of the week honors following his massive performance at Oklahoma.
Castell was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week, the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week and the Thorpe Award National Defensive Back of the Week this week.
Here are more details from UK Athletics:
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky safety Jordan Castell has earned a trio of national defensive player of the week accolades for his sterling play in a win at Oklahoma. He was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the National College Football Awards Association; the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the Football Writers Association of America and the Thorpe Award National Defensive Back of the Week as announced by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
These are the third and fourth accolades for Castell following his performance in Norman, Oklahoma, on Saturday. He was also selected as the Southeastern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week and the Senior Bowl’s National Defensive Player of the Week.
Castell’s Walter Camp award is the fifth Kentucky honor since 2004 and first since 2023. Josh Hines-Allen (Nov. 4, 2018), Jacquez Jones (Oct. 3, 2021), Will Levis (Oct. 10, 2021) and Ray Davis (Oct. 3, 2023) are UK’s other weekly award winners by the Camp Football Foundation.
He is just the second UK player to earn Nagurski weekly honors, joining Maxwell Hairston who earned the nod on Sept. 23, 2023. Hines-Allen was the 2018 Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Year in 2018.
Hairston is also the only other Kentucky player to earn the Thorpe Award, doing so in the same week — Sept. 23, 2023.
Castell, a 6-foot-2, 211-pound senior, helped seal the Wildcats’ first-ever victory at Oklahoma with an interception return for a touchdown in the closing minutes.
The Orlando native intercepted a pair of passes in critical moments of UK’s 21-13 victory at Oklahoma, while also adding nine tackles and a pass breakup. Averaging 23 points per game entering the game, Castell helped limit the Sooners to 13 points.
In the second quarter, Oklahoma lined up for a field-goal attempt from the UK 10-yard line. However, the Sooners attempted a pass into the end zone instead. Castell did not go for the fake, rather he stayed with the intended receiver and snared the interception.
In the fourth quarter, with UK clinging to a 14-13 lead and the Sooners driving, Castell read a route over the middle and intercepted the pass at the 41-yard line. He veered to his left and outran the pursuit to score his first collegiate touchdown.
Castell leads the SEC this season with four interceptions and ranks tied for 15th among all active FBS players for career interceptions with seven. A sure tackler from his safety position, he is UK’s second-leading tackler and ranks sixth in the SEC in tackles per game with 8.14 per outing.
The No. 12/12 Wildcats (6-1, 4-1 SEC) play host to Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-4 SEC) on Oct. 24 at Kroger Field. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on SEC Network. The game is sold out, but verified resale tickets for Saturday’s game may be purchased at UKathletics.com/fb26.
For complete coverage of the Wildcats, follow @UKFootball on social media and visit UKathletics.com.
