Walker Watch

The Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum announced today candidates for the 2008 Doak Walker Award. The award is presented annually to the nation's top college running back.

UCLA's Kahlil Bell, who rushed for 795 yards and five touchdowns last season prior to being injured in the eighth game of the year, is one of two Pac-10 backs on the list.

The field of candidates includes the nation's leading returning rusher, Eugene Jarvis, from Kent State. Other candidates include the leading returning rushers from the Big 10 (Chris Wells, Ohio State); the Big 12 (Marlon Lucky, Nebraska); and the SEC (Knowshon Moreno, Georgia).

The complete list of candidates, who were nominated by their universities, follows:

Tarrion Adams (Sr.), Tulsa
Reggie Arnold (Jr.), Arkansas State
Kahlil Bell (Sr.), UCLA
Andre Brown (Sr.), North Carolina State
Donald Brown (Jr.), Connecticut
Donald Buckram (So.), UTEP
James Davis (Sr.), Clemson
Mike Davis (Sr.), South Carolina
Andre Dixon (Jr.), Connecticut
Anthony Dixon (Jr.), Mississippi State
Jonathan Dwyer (So.), Georgia Tech
Jamelle Eugene (Jr.), North Carolina State
Tyrell Fenroy (Sr.), Louisiana Lafayette
Rodney Ferguson (Sr.), New Mexico
Damion Flecther (Jr.), Southern Mississippi
Arian Foster (Sr.), Tennessee
Mike Goodson (Jr.), Texas A&M
Keegan Herring (Sr.), Arizona State
P.J. Hill (Jr.), Wisconsin
Deonte Jackson (So.), Idaho
Terrell Jackson (Sr.), UTEP
Eugene Jarvis (Jr.), Kent State
Ian Johnson (Sr.), Boise State
Eric Kettani (Sr.), Naval Academy
Jorvorskie Lane (Sr.), Texas A&M
Luke Lippincott (Sr.), Nevada
Greg Little (So.), North Carolina
Marlon Lucky (Sr.), Nebraska
Darrell Mack (Sr.), Utah
DeMyron Martin (Sr.), SMU
LeSean McCoy (So.), Pittsburgh
Knowshon Moreno (So.), Georgia
DeMarco Murray (So.), Oklahoma
Javon Ringer (Sr.), Michigan State
Kory Sheets (Sr.), Purdue
Michael Smith (Jr.), Arkansas
C.J. Spiller (Jr.), Clemson
James Starks (Jr.), Buffalo
Frank Summers (Sr.), UNLV
Tyrell Sutton (Sr.), Northwestern
Joseph Turner (Jr.), TCU
Harvey Unga (So.), BYU
Chris Wells (Jr.), Ohio State

The Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will select the semifinalists on November 10, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the finalists, who will be announced on November 24. The committee will cast a second vote beginning on December 1 to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.

The recipient of the 2008 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on ESPN on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards on Thursday, December 11. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held at The Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, February 6, 2009. The award, in its 19th year, is named for SMU's three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. It is the only major collegiate award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.