The Texas Longhorns could very find themselves with yet another Doak Walker Award winner but he has an uphill battle ahead. Junior Keaontay Ingram was named to the watch list. The award is given to the nation’s top running back in the country. He will have to compete with Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard to take home the honor.
Since the award was introduced in 1990, the Longhorns have taken home the trophy four times but three different players. Ricky Williams won the award in 1997 and 1998. Cedric Benson followed him up in 2004. The latest came when D’Onta Foreman took home the award in 2016.
Keaontay Ingram – @DoakWalkerAward Watch List. 🤘#ThisIsTexas #HookEm pic.twitter.com/JSNRwlXo1i
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) July 15, 2020
Not only will Ingram be looking to match Wisconsin with five Doak Walker winners but he is not only facing off against Chuba. He will need to be the feature back to likely accomplish this feat. Luke Staley was the last winner to not eclipse the 200 carry mark. Staley carried the ball 196 times for a blistering 8.1 yards per carry and 24 touchdowns.
Ingram has yet to carry the ball more than 144 times in a season. With Roschon Johnson and Bijan Robinson waiting in the wings, that might be too steep a hill for Ingram to overcome to bring home the award. However, you can’t ever count out a Texas running back. When Foreman won the award in 2016, he hadn’t carried the ball more than 94 times in a season. As a junior he carried the ball 323 times.
The battle between Ingram, Hubbard, Pooka Williams and Kennedy Brooks will be one to watch as they try to prove who is the best running back in the conference.