Tag: Doak Walker Award

Wisconsin tied for all-time lead in Doak Walker Award winners

More proof that Wisconsin is “Running Back University”

The Doak Walker Award is given to the top running back in college football each season and the Wisconsin Badgers football program is tied for the all-time lead in athletes receiving the award.

Entering the 2023-2024 season, Wisconsin has had four different athletes win the award for a total of five winners in the program’s history. Ron Dayne became the first Badger to win the Doak Walker in 1999. During that season, Dayne rushed for 1,834 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground, winning the Heisman Trophy as well as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.

The next Badger to win the award was Montee Ball, who did so after the 2012 campaign. The running back churned out 1,830 yards and 22 scores as a runner. Although it was his second-best season as a member of Wisconsin’s roster, it was his only time winning the Doak Walker.

Just two years later, Melvin Gordon became the third Badgers running back to be selected as the best in the nation. In 2014, Gordon rushed for 2,587 yards and 29 touchdowns while adding 19 catches for 153 yards and three scores.

Finally, Jonathan Taylor won the Doak Walker Award in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019. Over those two campaigns, the running back had 4,197 combined rushing yards and 37 total rushing touchdowns. He was just the third player ever to win consecutive Doak Walker Awards.

Texas is tied with Wisconsin for the most Doak Walker Award winners with five, but they also had four players tally those wins. Ricky Williams (1997-1998),  Cedric Benson (2003), D’Onta Foreman (2016) and Bijan Robinson (2022) have won as members of the Longhorns.

Alabama (3) sits at third all-time while Arkansas, Iowa, Stanford and Texas Tech are all tied for fifth with two Doak Walker Awards per program.

Social media reacts to fourth touchdown for Audric Estime

Much of the chatter on social media during Notre Dame’s game against Stanford has been about Audric Estime.

Much of the chatter on social media during Notre Dame’s game against Stanford has been about [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag]. More specifically, it’s been about how he didn’t make the latest cut for the Doak Walker Award, which is given to the best running back in the country. The only thing to do in that case is let your game speak, and boy, has Estime ever.

Here’s Estime’s fourth touchdown against the Cardinal, this one from 25 yards out:

It probably already has been asked once or twice on this site during this game, but is there anything else that can be said about Estime? Every NFL team should be lining up to check him out at the combine because he is going to be so good for somebody. Irish fans know it, and they want the world to know it via social media. Here are some of the best tweets about yet another in a series of Estime touchdowns:

Notre Dame running back Audric Estime snubbed for national award

This is a big miss by their committee

On Tuesday afternoon the [autotag]Doak Walker Award[/autotag], given out annually to the nations top running back announces its semi-final list, and Notre Dame running back [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag] was nowhere to be found.

The Irish running back is No. 15 in rushing yards with 1,103 while being tied for 7th in touchdowns with 14 was shockingly omitted from the list of ten. There is now way that there are 10 better running backs in the country than Estime.

Many of the names I can understand, but having to Group of 5 players over him just makes no sense. On a weekly basis Estime has played better competition and produced at a high level.

It would be nice for them to amend this list, but that most likely won’t happen at this point. The snub hopefully motivates Estime this weekend and beyond.

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Ollie Gordon II is the Doak Walker running back of the week

Ollie Gordon II is playing like a man possessed over the last month.

After rushing for a total of 109 yards (36.3 yards per game) over the first three weeks of the season, [autotag]Oklahoma State Cowboys[/autotag] running back Ollie Gordon II has been an unstoppable force over the last four games.

In that stretch, Oklahoma State is 3-1 with the lone loss coming to Iowa State. During the four games, Gordon has averaged 176.8 yards per game. Against the West Virginia Mountaineers, he ran for 282 yards and four touchdowns. He still trails Tahj Brooks, Emani Bailey, and Jonathon Brooks for the most rushing yards in the Big 12 but leads the conference in rushing touchdowns.

For his performance in Week 8, the Doak Walker Award named him the national running back of the week honors. The announcement came on Tuesday morning.

Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II ran for a season Division I FBS single-game best 282 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-34 win over West Virginia. The performance earned him the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Oct. 21. It’s the second straight week Gordon has been honored by the Doak Walker Award.

In the win over West Virginia, three of his touchdowns came in the fourth quarter on runs of 16, 46, and 53 yards. On the afternoon, Gordon had five runs of more than 25 yards. Gordon is the first Cowboy with four rushing touchdowns in a game since Rennie Childs on Sept. 17, 2016, against Pitt and the 282 yards are the most rushing yards by a Cowboy since All-American and Doak Walker Award finalist Chuba Hubbard ran for 296 yards against Kansas State on Sept. 28, 2019. – via a press release from the Doak Walker Award

Any time you can be mentioned in the same breath as Chuba Hubbard, you are definitely doing something right at the running back position. The Cowboys are currently 5-2 and will host the Cincinnati Bearcats at T. Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater on Saturday night. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Jonathon Brooks receives prestigious awards following win vs Kansas

Texas’ Jonathon Brooks won the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Player of the Week and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.

Texas running back Jonathon Brooks was awarded the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Player of the Week for his stellar performance against No. 24 Kansas. Brooks was also granted the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.

He rushed for a career-high 218 yards last week, averaging just over 10 yards per carry and two touchdowns. Brooks also caught one pass for 23 yards.

For the third straight week, Brooks has eclipsed 100 rushing yards against Wyoming (164), Baylor (106), and Kansas (218).

 

Brooks has rushed for 593 yards in five games this season, making him the fourth-highest rusher in the country. Additionally, he has the 7th highest yards-per-attempt average in college football (with at least 60 attempts) at 6.9 yards.

It’s certainly possible Texas could take home the Doak Walker Award for the second consecutive year with Brooks, one of the best running backs in the country.

Rutgers Kyle Monangai was recognized for the Doak Walker Award

Rutgers RB Kyle Monangai was one of six running backs recognized nationally for the Doak Walker Award based on their Week 3 performance.

Rutgers junior running back Kyle Monangai was one of six running backs recognized nationally for the Doak Walker Award based on their Week 3 performance. The Doak Walker Award is awarded to the nation’s top running back each week, with the winner being selected by a 20-person committee based on their weekly performance.

Florida running back Trevor Etienne was the award winner for Week 3, with Jonathon Brooks (Texas), Tajh Brooks (Texas Tech), Audric Estimé (Notre Dame), Kyle Monangai (Rutgers), and Nate Noel (App State) being other strong candidates. Etienne rushed for a career-high 172 yards on 23 carriers and scored one touchdown as the Gators upset No. 11 Tennessee, 29-16.

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Monangai, the Big Ten’s leading rusher (357 yards overall), was a strong candidate for the award after recording 143 yards and three touchdowns in Rutgers’ 35-16 victory over Virginia Tech. The junior running back averaged 8.9 yards per carry, logging the second-straight week with 100+ rushing yards.

 

The Roseland, New Jersey, native leads the league with 126.7 all-purpose yards per game heading into Week 4, marking the first time a Scarlet Knight has topped 100 rushing yards in consecutive games since 2016.

Monangai is ranked second in the Big Ten Conference with five touchdowns, scoring touchdowns in three consecutive weeks. The last Scarlet Knight to record a rushing touchdown in the first three games was Ray Rice (eight total) in 2007.

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Also, Monangai received the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday as he prepares to face No. 2 Michigan (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) in Rutgers’ Week 4 matchup.

 

Ohio State running back duo on Doak Walker preseason watch list

Two more Buckeyes on a significant college football award preseason watch list. #GoBucks

There aren’t too many backfields that are better than the Ohio State duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams. Both will more than likely get significant playing time this fall after a year in which both struggled with some injuries and weren’t quite at full health.

All indications point to the duo being at full speed for the fall, and that should be a really good thing for an OSU offense that must replace three offensive linemen and the starting quarterback.

In a nod to what the two are expected to be in 2023, Henderson and Williams were both on the Doak Walker preseason watch list that was announced on Wednesday.

If you’ve been around college football, we don’t have to tell you what the Doak Walker Award represents. It is handed out annually to the best running back in the country. It is awarded by a national selection committee and has been around since 1990.

Eddie George is the only Ohio State player to ever take the award home when he did so in 1995, the same year that he won the Heisman Trophy.

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Sophomore RB Jovantae Barnes named to Doak Walker award watch list

Oklahoma running back Jovantae Barnes named to the preseason watch list for the Doak Walker award.

Oklahoma had several players placed o preseason award watch lists this summer. Dillon Gabriel, Luke Elzinga, Ethan Downs, and Danny Stutsman have each been featured as players to watch this fall. They add to that total as sophomore running back Jovantae Barnes was named to the Doak Walker Award watch list.

The Doak Walker Award was created in 1989 to honor the nation’s most outstanding collegiate running back. The award recognizes a football player’s performance and achievements in the community and the classroom.

Barbes was a consensus four-star recruit out of Nevada, and in his first year on campus, he made his presence felt. He played in 11 games and carried the ball 116 times for 519 rushing yards (4.5 yards per carry) and five touchdowns. He figures to be a foundational aspect of Oklahoma’s offensive attack this season, along with fellow sophomore Gavin Sawchuk.

Under Jeff Lebby, Oklahoma isn’t shy about running the ball and will run you into the dust if you let them. It should allow Barnes to put together some serious numbers with an athletic and powerful offensive line that looks to improve upon last year’s efforts.

Despite its illustrious history, no Sooners running back has ever won the award.

Barnes’ top priority will be to help his Sooners put together a much better season than the 6-7 team he was a part of last year. Any awards that come his way will be because he was at the forefront of Oklahoma’s offensive success, tearing things up on the ground.

His position coach, DeMarco Murray, wanted someone to become a bell cow back for the Sooners. If Barnes can take that on, his path to winning the Doak Walker Award clears up significantly.

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Penn State’s running back duo named to Doak Walker Award watch list

Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen represent Penn State on the Doak Walker Award watch list for 2023.

One of the biggest reasons Penn State fans are getting excited about the upcoming 2023 season is the anticipation for what the dynamic running back tandem of [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] will do as sophomores. After stellar freshman seasons, the two top running backs returning to the team this season have now been included on the watch list for the nation’s top running back award in college football.

Singleton and Allen were named on the 2023 watch list for the Doak Walker Award, which is presented annually to the best running back in college football. To appear on the list of watch list candidates, a player must be nominated by their respective university.

Singleton, who also is on the watch lists for the Maxwell Award and Paul Hornung Award, was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2022 after rushing for 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns. Singleton set the Penn State freshman rushing touchdown record and was the third freshman in school history to rush for 1,000 yards.

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If not for Singleton’s performance in 2022, the freshman rushing touchdown record would have belonged to Allen, who accounted for 10 rushing touchdowns. Allen’s 867 rushing yards is the fourth-most by a Penn State freshman in program history. Allen became the first freshman running back with three rushing touchdowns in a single game (vs. Indiana) since Austin Scott did it in 2003.

Penn State has just one Doak Walker Award in program history. Larry Johnson easily walked away with the award during the 2002 season. The Big Ten has had a good handful of Doak Walker Award winners since it was first presented in 1990. The most recent Big Ten player to win the Doak Walker Award was Kenneth Walker III of Michigan State in 2021. Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor won back-to-back Doak Walker Awards in 2018 and 2019 to become the third two-time winner of the award (Ricky Williams of Texas in 1997 and 1998 and Darren McFadden of Arkansas in 2006 and 2007).

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Noah Cain and Josh Williams named to Doak Walker Award watch list

A pair of LSU running backs were named to the Doak Walker Award watch list.

LSU running backs [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] were named to the Doak Walker Award watchlist, the award annually given to the best running back in the country.

LSU’s running back room is crowded, but Cain and Williams have emerged as veteran leaders.

Cain, a Louisiana native who began his career at Penn State, transferred to LSU prior to 2022. Still working back from an injury, he saw his workload increase over the course of the year. He was LSU’s No. 1 back in spring practice as other running backs missed time.

Williams was a former walk-on who emerged as LSU’s most trusted rusher last year. He came up in big moments, picking up key first downs against Alabama and leading LSU’s offense at Arkansas.

With [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag] transferring in and [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] rejoining the team, it’s anyone’s guess how the carries will shake out this fall. LSU will likely take a running back-by-committee approach.

But Cain and Williams both have the trust of the team and coaching staff. Expect to see a decent bit of both guys, especially early in the year.

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