Fresno State football’s defensive coordinator Bert Watts was announced as a nominee for the 2018 Broyles award, given to the nation’s top assistant coaches.

According to a Fresno State Athletics news release, Watts was selected as one of 53 nominees from a pool of over 1,500 assistant coaches from 130 Division I college football programs.

The award’s selection process includes the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), current college head coaches and a college football hall of fame selection committee, the release said.

The 19-person selection committee will select 15 semifinalists on Nov. 20 and five finalists on Nov. 26 from the list of nominees. The finalists will then be invited to Little Rock, Arkansas, where the 2018 Broyles Award winner will be announced on Dec. 4.

Watts, who is in his first season as defensive coordinator, leads a Bulldogs defense that ranks No. 2 in scoring defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), allowing 12.3 points per game and 7.2 points per game against Mountain West Conference opponents.

Only once in the history of the program has a Bulldog team held their opponents under 14.0 points per game in a season (1986), the release said.

In nine games, the Bulldogs have created 21 takeaways, tying them for fifth most in the nation. Fifteen of the 21 turnovers have been interceptions, which is tied for second most in FBS.

Overall, Fresno State ranks in the top 15 programs in the country in eight statistical categories, including red zone defense, interceptions and passing efficiency defense.

The Bulldogs will put it’s defense up to the test on Nov. 9 when the teams travels to Boise State to take on the Broncos, which is scoring the third most points per game in the conference.