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Saw this on the SMU site:




2004 Doak Walker Award Candidates Announced

DALLAS, TEXAS - The SMU Athletic Forum announced today the names of the candidates for the 2004 Doak Walker Award, presented annually to the nation’s top college running back.

The field of candidates includes Kansas State senior Darren Sproles who was a finalist for the 2003 Doak Walker Award and led the nation in total rushing yards (1,915) last season. Other candidates include Texas senior Cedric Benson who led the nation in scoring last year with 134 points and has 3,706 career rushing yards, the most of any returning back; Syracuse senior Walter Reyes who has gained more than 1,100 yards in each of the past two seasons; and Memphis Junior DeAngelo Williams who led the country in all-purpose yardage and compiled ten consecutive 100-yard rushing games in 2003.

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

Josh Allen (Jr.), Maryland
J.J. Arrington (Sr.), California
Marion Barber (Sr.), Minnesota
Chris Barclay (Jr.), Wake Forest
Arliss Beach (Jr.), Kentucky
Mike Bell (Jr.), Arizona
Cedric Benson (Sr.), Texas
Ronnie Brown (Sr.), Auburn
Reggie Bush (So.), USC
Earl Charles (Sr.), Marshall
Patrick Cobbs (Sr.), North Texas
P.J. Daniels (Jr.), Georgia Tech
Anthony Davis (Sr.), Wisconsin
Kyle Eckel (Sr.), Navy
Anthony Evans (Sr.), Houston
Lionel Gates (Sr.), Louisville
Franklin Gore (Sr.), Miami
E.B. Halsey (So.), Illinois
Lynell Hamilton (So.), San Diego State
Alex Haynes (Sr.), UCF
Taurean Henderson (Jr.), Texas Tech
Lonta Hobbs (Jr.), TCU
Cedric Houston (Sr.), Tennessee
Howard Jackson (Sr.), UTEP
Chance Kretschmer (Sr.), Nevada
Brian Leonard (Jr.), Rutgers
Wali Lundy (Jr.), Virginia
Sammy Maldonado (Sr.), Maryland
Ronnie McGill (So.), UNC
T.A. McLendon (Jr.), NC State
Ryan Moats (Jr.), Louisiana Tech
Foy Munlin (Sr.), SMU
P.J. Pope (Jr.), Bowling Green
Bobby Purify (Sr.), Colorado
Walter Reyes (Sr.), Syracuse
Lydell Ross (Sr.), Ohio State
Darren Sproles (Sr.), Kansas State
Justin Vincent (So.), LSU
Jerod Void (Sr.), Purdue
LenDale White (So.), USC
DeAngelo Williams (Jr.), Memphis
Carnell Williams (Sr.), Auburn

"Each new season of college football brings fans a fresh list of new 'stars' to watch. This year will be no different. As for the running back position...well, simply put this will be one of the more talented groups we’ve had the pleasure of following. This year’s Doak Walker watch list is impressive. This year’s winner will again exemplify the characteristics of Doak Walker. A tough and talented runner for sure, but just as important as the yards gained on the field, Doak was a model citizen and leader in the classroom, too. Good luck to the candidates," said Craig James, SMU alumnus and member of the Doak Walker Award National Selection
Committee.

The SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will select the semifinalists on November 15, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will vote on the winner in late November. 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 2004 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on ESPN along with other NCFAA member awards on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 9. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held at The Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, February 15, 2005.

Former Michigan running back Chris Perry, currently with the Cincinnati Bengals, won the 2003 Doak Walker Award.

The award, which is celebrating its 15th year, is named for SMU’s three-time All-American 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. Sponsors of the Forum include PricewaterhouseCoopers, American Airlines, The Dallas Morning News, Guaranty Bank, JPMorgan Chase and State Farm Bank®.


Honoring the legends of sports for 16 years, the SMU Athletic Forum celebrates outstanding success in athletics. Based in Dallas, the series features major figures from a variety of sports. The SMU Athletic Forum includes four luncheons and the prestigious Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet.

Somehow I have a feeling Munlin's going to have a season that really justifies his position on this list. With his size and power and speed, he's going to have a lot of folks asking "where'd this guy come from?"

I think Sproles has as good a shot as anyone of winning the award, although the fact that an RB from Texas wins it every couple of years means the overrated Benson will probably be in the running. But for my money, the best RB in the country is USC's Reggie Bush.

While I am sure that Foy is a great student-athlete, it is hard to see how a guy can be nominated for an award when he has never even been the starter on his football team, transfers to another school and has yet to even play a game for his current team. I guess the committe that picks the initial list is nothing but SMU alums so out of consideration to our school, they put him on the list.

PonySnob wrote:While I am sure that Foy is a great student-athlete, it is hard to see how a guy can be nominated for an award when he has never even been the starter on his football team, transfers to another school and has yet to even play a game for his current team. I guess the committe that picks the initial list is nothing but SMU alums so out of consideration to our school, they put him on the list.

To the best of my recollection, only two SMU running backs have been on the initial list of nominees since the inception of the award. Thus it is not an annual ritual that an SMU back is on the list.

My point is that how does a guy who has barely played in college make the list? It's not like he has ever gotten 200 carries in a season, gained 1000 yards, etc.

agreed. Someone that actually played and put up decent numbers was left off.

PonySnob & Rich Alum, look at the list - there are more than one guy on the list that didn't start last year. The list is based on players making noise not on past accomplishments. As an example - JJ Arrington at Cal was a back up last year. At USC, both the first & second string RB are listed, so it's not just last year's stars.

Diehard Pony wrote:To the best of my recollection, only two SMU running backs have been on the initial list of nominees since the inception of the award. Thus it is not an annual ritual that an SMU back is on the list.

I do no think that is correct. I think more years than not (and maybe most years) there has been an SMU back on the initial list of candidates. Is there any way to verify this? Is there a historical list of initial candidates on the Athletic Forum website somewhere?

I thought we were guaranteed to have someone on the list because of out association with the event and the award?????

most of these names appear to have played last year. If you are referring to Frank Gore, that is completely different. Had he not been hurt, we would have played ahead of some of those other Miami backs.

PonySnob wrote:While I am sure that Foy is a great student-athlete, it is hard to see how a guy can be nominated for an award when he has never even been the starter on his football team, transfers to another school and has yet to even play a game for his current team.

Not to pick nits, but I think Foy was named the starter the first game or two the year he played at Tech, but was quickly replaced by Taurean Henderson.

Mike Damone wrote:I thought we were guaranteed to have someone on the list because of out association with the event and the award?????

I always assumed so, based on the fact that there is one every year, or so it seems.

BTW, what ever happened with Mark Ratner and Stacy?

Guys,

We are not guaranteed a spot every year. That would take away the integrity of the award, especially if we ever had a Pony win the award.

My wife did the PR for this event for 4 years (I attended all of them), and we didn't have a Pony in the initial group for any of those years.

We had KK last year and a couple of others.

Diehard Pony wrote:Guys,

We are not guaranteed a spot every year. That would take away the integrity of the award, especially if we ever had a Pony win the award.

My wife did the PR for this event for 4 years (I attended all of them), and we didn't have a Pony in the initial group for any of those years.

We had KK last year and a couple of others.

Okay but I can remember Briggs, Phillips and Adams, right off the top, and I bet Womack and others were also tapped. You may be right, I suspect we had nobody the first few years, which coincided with the years immediately following our return from the Death Penalty.

Adams? Is that Kelsey Adams?

By the way, Ryan Mentzel is on the Ray Guy Award preseason Watch List.