DALLAS (SMU) – Clemson running back Will Shipley rushed for a career-high of 172 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers remained unbeaten with a 27-21 comeback win over previously unbeaten Syracuse. The performance earned him the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Oct. 22.
The 5-11, 205-pound sophomore from Weddington, N.C., busted a 50-yard touchdown run with 11:26 to play to give Clemson the lead for good, rallying from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to give the Tigers a 38th consecutive home win, an Atlantic Coast Conference record. Overall, Clemson is now riding a 14-game winning streak.
The 100-yard game was the seventh of Shipley’s career and the eighth time he’s scored multiple touchdowns. Saturday’s scores were the 20th and 21st of his career as Clemson rushed a season-high 60 times for a season-high 293 yards. To go with his 27 carries, Shipley added 53 on two kickoff return yards and 17 receiving yards on three catches to finish the day with 242 all-purpose yards, four more than his previous career high set the previous week at Florida State.
The Tigers are idle this week before traveling to Notre Dame for a Nov. 5 prime-time game on NBC at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Other candidates for the honor in Week 8 included:
- Roman Hembry, Maryland:The redshirt freshman rushed for a career-high 179 yards – his fourth-career 100-yard game – and scored three touchdowns as the Terps topped Northwestern, 31-24. One play after Northwestern scored to tie the game at 24, Hembry broke off a career-long 75-yard touchdown run with 3:22 left to play to put the Terps ahead for good.
- Dae Dae Hunter, Liberty:The sophomore ran 23 times for 213 yards and a touchdown as the Flames scored 38 unanswered points in blasting BYU, 41-14. Hunter reeled off an 80-yard touchdown run, the third-longest in program history. The 213 rushing yards are the most by a Liberty player since 2008, and Hunter’s 31 receiving yards in the game gave him 244 all-purpose yards on the day.
- Deneric Prince, Tulsa:The senior ran for a career-high 231 yards on 20 carries as Tulsa won at Temple last Friday, 27-16, despite an early 10-0 deficit. Prince had Tulsa’s first 200-yard game since 2017, which Included an 84-yard score, the fourth-longest run in school history. It was Prince’s fourth 100-yard game and first of the season. He also added his first touchdown reception, an 18-yarder in the first half.
The Doak Walker Award presented by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum has been awarded to the nation’s top running back since 1990. For the first time, the award is recognizing a national running back of the week this season. A select 20-person committee from the award’s full voting body of media and past winners chooses the weekly recipient. On July 20, a preseason candidates list was released and semifinalists for the award will be named on Nov. 22. A week later, the three finalists will be announced.
The 2022 Doak Walker Award winner will be unveiled live on The Home Depot College Football Awards, televised by ESPN on Dec. 8. The annual banquet, where the winner and the recipient of the 2022 PwC Doak Walker Legends Award will be honored, will take place in February on the SMU campus.
The Doak Walker Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored more than 800 recipients since 1935. Visit NCFAA.org for more information.