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Doak Walker Award

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Doak Walker Award
The Doak Walker Award, designed by artist Blair Buswell
Awarded forThe nation's top college football running back
CountryUnited States
Presented bySMU
History
First award1990
Most recentJeremiyah Love, Notre Dame
Websitewww.smu.edu/DoakWalkerAward

The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, it is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions from 1950 to 1955. The player is selected by the award's National Selection Committee, which consists of notable sportswriters, television commentators, analysts, radio sports personalities and former All-America and NFL All-Pro football players.[1] Recipients receive a bronze sculpture of Doak Walker, designed by artist Blair Buswell. The most recent winner of the award was Jeremiyah Love of Notre Dame.

Notable accomplishments

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Wisconsin Badgers running backs won four times in eight years from 2012 to 2019. The Badgers and Texas Longhorns are tied with the most wins with five apiece.[2]

Ricky Williams from Texas (1997, 1998), Darren McFadden from the Arkansas Razorbacks (2006, 2007) and Jonathan Taylor from Wisconsin (2018, 2019) are the only three players to win the award twice.

Winners

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Made at least one Pro Bowl during NFL career.
YearWinnerSchoolRef.
1990Greg LewisWashington
1991Trevor CobbRice
1992Garrison HearstGeorgia
1993Bam MorrisTexas Tech
1994Rashaan SalaamColorado
1995Eddie GeorgeOhio State
1996Byron HanspardTexas Tech (2)
1997Ricky WilliamsTexas
1998Ricky Williams (2)Texas (2)
1999Ron DayneWisconsin[3]
2000LaDainian TomlinsonTCU[4]
2001Luke StaleyBYU
2002Larry JohnsonPenn State
2003Chris PerryMichigan
2004Cedric BensonTexas (3)
2005Reggie BushUSC
2006Darren McFaddenArkansas[5]
2007Darren McFadden (2)Arkansas (2)
2008Shonn GreeneIowa[6]
2009Toby GerhartStanford[7]
2010LaMichael JamesOregon[8]
2011Trent RichardsonAlabama[9]
2012Montee BallWisconsin (2)[10]
2013Andre WilliamsBoston College[11]
2014Melvin GordonWisconsin (3)[12]
2015Derrick HenryAlabama (2)[2]
2016D'Onta ForemanTexas (4)[2]
2017Bryce LoveStanford (2)[2]
2018Jonathan TaylorWisconsin (4)[13]
2019Jonathan Taylor (2)Wisconsin (5)
2020Najee HarrisAlabama (3)[14]
2021Kenneth Walker IIIMichigan State[15]
2022Bijan RobinsonTexas (5)[16]
2023Ollie Gordon IIOklahoma State[17]
2024Ashton JeantyBoise State[18]
2025Jeremiyah LoveNotre Dame[19]

References

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General
Footnotes
  1. ↑ "Selection Committee - SMU".
  2. 1 2 3 4 Galloway, Jason (December 7, 2018). "Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor becomes 4th Wisconsin player to win Doak Walker Award". madison.com. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Dayne Wins Walker, Maxwell". CBS News. December 9, 1999. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  4. ↑ "TCU's LaDainian Tomlinson Named Winner of the 2000 Doak Walker Award Presented by Vectrix". Texas Christian University Athletics. December 9, 2000. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Tebow takes Maxwell, O'Brien; McFadden wins Walker". ESPN.com. December 7, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  6. ↑ Rittenberg, Adam (December 11, 2008). "Iowa's Greene wins Doak Walker Award". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Stanford's Toby Gerhart wins Doak Walker Award". The Mercury News. December 10, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Oregon RB LaMichael James wins Doak Walker Award". San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. December 9, 2010. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Alabama's Trent Richardson wins Doak Walker Award". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 8, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  10. ↑ Temple, Jesse (December 6, 2012). "Wisconsin's Ball wins Doak Walker Award". Fox Sports. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  11. ↑ Hightower, Kyle (December 12, 2013). "BC's Andre Williams Wins Doak Walker Award". Associated Press. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  12. ↑ Potrykus, Jeff (December 11, 2014). "Melvin Gordon wins Doak Walker Award as top running back". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  13. ↑ Zucker, Joseph (December 12, 2019). "Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor Wins 2019 Doak Walker Award as Nation's Best RB". Bleacher Report.
  14. ↑ Martin, Tyler (January 7, 2021). "Alabama RB Najee Harris Wins 2020 Doak Walker Award". Sports Illustrated.
  15. ↑ "Kenneth Walker III Named Walter Camp Player of the Year, Wins Doak Walker Award". msuspartans.com. Michigan State University. December 9, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Robinson wins 2022 Doak Walker Award". texaslonghorns.com. University of Texas at Austin. December 8, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2026. Junior running back Bijan Robinson is the fourth Longhorn to win the award honoring the nation's top college running back.
  17. ↑ "Ollie Gordon II Wins Doak Walker Award and All-America Honors". okstate.com. Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. December 8, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Ashton Jeanty Wins Doak Walker Award and Maxwell Award". broncosports.com. Boise State University. December 12, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2026. Heisman finalist first player to win both awards since 2015
  19. ↑ "Jeremiyah Love Wins 2025 Doak Walker Award". fightingirish.com. University of Notre Dame. December 12, 2025. Retrieved March 25, 2026.
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