Penn State University's Abdul Carter continues to gain national recognition for his game-changing performance against Illinois

Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter added a few more lines to his resume Tuesday after his star performance for the Nittany Lions Illinois on Saturday evening.

Carter was named the Maxwell Football Club's Chuck Bednarik Award Player of the Week on Tuesday and the Football Writers Association of America's Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week.

In the No. 7 Nittany Lions' 21-7 win over the No. 24 Fighting Illini, Carter had seven tackles (four solo), four tackles for loss, two sacks, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.

The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually by the Maxwell Football Club to the outstanding defensive player in college football. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is awarded by the Charlotte Touchdown Club to the best defensive player in college football.

Carter was on preseason watch lists for both the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy, as well as the Lott IMPACT Trophy, Butkus Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award.

On Monday, Carter was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, and the Senior Bowl named him Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Carter was named defensive tackle inside player of the game Zane Durant as distributed by Penn State staff.

Carter's four tackles for loss against Illinois were a career high and he became the first Nittany Lion to have that many in a game since Yetur Gross-Matos in 2018. The game was his fourth with multiple tackles for loss and his third multi-sack game.

During the 4-0 start for the Nittany Lions, Carter had 19 tackles (12 solo), 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, two pass breakups and a forced fumble. Defensive coordinator Tom Allen has started using him in a variety of ways in Penn State's defense, and against Illinois he played both defensive end and linebacker.

Carter, a junior, made the full-time switch from linebacker to defensive end in the offseason.

“I think the good thing is that it’s just getting better,” Trainer said James Franklin said Monday. “The transition from linebacker to defensive end is a significant one. He's already done some really good things. But I think as he gets more and more comfortable there and then, as you saw last week, we start to put more emphasis on him… just that alone, so they can't plan and they don't know exactly where he'll be becomes.

In addition to a number of preseason watch lists, Carter was also named to the preseason All-America team by Walter Camp, Action Network, CBS Sports/247Sports, ESPN and The Athletic.

On Saturday, Carter appeared to be a player of that caliber, and his coaches and teammates expect him to continue to get better as the season progresses.

“If Abdul keeps stacking plays like that, you know what his ceiling is,” defensive tackle said Dvon J-Thomas said Tuesday. “He’s just going to open up a different level of play that we all know he’s capable of. If he can do that, you'll see more for him, that will give others the opportunity to make more plays, and that in turn will just make the entire defense better.

Carter was a four-star recruit from Wyndmoor (Pa.) La Salle College in the class of 2022. He was ranked as the No. 9 player in Pennsylvania and the No. 33 linebacker in that class.

Penn State is back in action against UCLA on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The game is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. ET and will be televised on FOX. The Nittany Lions are the favorite over the Bruins by four touchdowns.

Daniel Gallen covers Penn State for Lions247 and 247Sports. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Daniel on X at @danieljtgallen and Instagram at @bydanieljtgallen.