Ball wins Doak Walker over Franklin, Barner

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Johnathan Franklin may hold nearly a half-dozen UCLA records, but that wasn’t good enough to earn him the distinction of being the nation’s best running back. Franklin finished second to Wisconsin’s Montee Ball, who also edged out presumptive favorite Kenjon Barner (Oregon).

Here’s a statistical comparison between the three seniors.

Kenjon Barner:
12 games, 248 carries, 1,624 yards (6.5 ypc), 21 TD … 19 receptions, 232 yards, 1 TD
Montee Ball:
13 games, 332 carries, 1,730 yards, (5.2 ypc), 21 TD … 9 receptions, 65 yards, 0 TD
Johnathan Franklin:
13 games, 268 carries, 1,700 yards (6.3 ypc), 13 TD … 32 receptions, 319 yards, 2 TD

Franklin’s lack of touchdowns obviously hurt him, but he did have a 194-yard performance against Stanford’s top-ranked rushing defense, which had only allowed one team to rack up that many yards all season. At the top of Barner’s resume was his absurd 321-yard, five-touchdown explosion against USC. Ball played on a five-loss team and was almost a non-factor as a receiver, but likely benefited from lifetime achievement: he was beat out by Alabama’s Trent Richardson a year ago despite his FBS-record tying 39 rushing scores.

Franklin can claim another victory though …

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  • http://www.facebook.com/davidsimshomes David Jon Sims

    This just goes to show how little the voters know about who really deserves these awards……they just vote on name recognition and who’s name have they been hearing the last couple years. Do they take into account who might be running with a mostly freshman O line? Who cares about actual TD’s???

    • Me So Ramen

      Although I’m disappointed to hear Franklin didnt win this award, we shouldn’t dismiss having TD’s just because it’s favorable to our argument. TD’s will always be important but shouldn’t be the only deciding factor.

  • http://www.facebook.com/sakatalaw Cliff Sakata

    Great season for Franklin and hardly fumbled at all. Very happy for him and his success this year.

    • http://amillennialist.blogspot.com Santiago Matamoros

      Absolutely!

  • Hardtail Bruin

    Even though Johnathan deserves the award (for sure) it couldn’t add anything to WHO HE IS and what he’s done. That kid’s a winner on and off the field. The kind of kid we’re going to be proud of for years to come.

  • EncinitasBruin

    Just channel that frustration toward Baylor’s 117th ranked defense, Jonathan, and you’ll be feeling better in no time.

  • EncinitasBruin

    Just channel that frustration toward Baylor’s 117th ranked defense, Jonathan, and you’ll be feeling better in no time.