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Reggie Bush, Jerome Harrison and DeAngelo Williams Named Finalists for the 2005 Doak Walker Award

DALLAS, TEXAS - The Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum today announced Reggie Bush of USC, Jerome Harrison of Washington State and
DeAngelo Williams of Memphis as the three finalists for the 2005 Doak Walker Award.

The recipient of the 2005 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on ESPN's The Home Depot College Football Awards at 7 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, December 8. The award will be presented at the 2005 Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet in Dallas on Monday, February 27, 2006.

Bush, a junior from Spring Valley, California, has rushed for 1,398 yards and accounted for 16 touchdowns this season. He leads the nation averaging 213 all-purpose yards per game and 8.6 yards per carry, and ranks third in the country in total rushing yards. Bush holds the Pac-10 record for all-purpose yards in a game with 513.

Harrison, a senior from Kalamazoo, Michigan, has rushed for 1,900 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. He leads the nation in total rushing yards and ranks second nationally in rushing yards per game and all-purpose yards per game. Harrison has run for at least 100 yards in a Pac-10 record 14 consecutive games.

Williams, a senior from Wynne, Arkansas, has rushed for 1,599 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. He leads the nation averaging 178 rushing yards per game, and ranks second in total rushing yards. Williams is the NCAA Division IA record holder in career all-purpose yards with 7,210 and ranks fourth all-time in career rushing yards with 5,661.

In addition to outstanding performance on the field, candidates for the Doak Walker Award must have demonstrated records of leadership and exhibited the characteristics of sportsmanship and fair play associated with Doak Walker.

The National Selection Committee had the difficult task of narrowing this year's tremendous field of running backs down to these three deserving finalists," said Chris Rentzel, chair of the Athletic Forum Board of Directors. "We would be honored to have any of these exceptional running backs receive the Award."

Jim Swink, former TCU star running back, was named the recipient of the 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers Doak Walker Legends Award, which was created to honor former running backs who excelled at the collegiate level and also distinguished themselves as leaders in their communities.
Swink also will be honored at the banquet.

Bush.

Reggie Bush, no question

Williams, no question. He gets it done without the talent around him.

I would say go with one of the seniors. Bush still has another year to make an even bigger splash.

Williams. A little pub for C-USA, and he's had an amazing year after coming back from a nasty leg injury (broke two bones, I think). And as LF68 pointed out, he doesn't have NEARLY the talent around him that Bush has. (Of course, with all that said, if I'm coaching a college bowl game and I can pick any RB in the country, it's Bush.)

Ya'll've convinced me to change my vote to Williams.

MrMustang1965 wrote:Ya'll've convinced me to change my vote to Williams.

Man, that was easy.

probably with a pencil and a little slip of paper, or maybe they will have a new fangled touchscreen voting system, or maybe a punch card so I can leave a hanging chad or two and cause a two week controversy

Harrison. He is is hands down the best pure running back in the country. And he puts up ridiculous numbers for being on a team that's 2-9. Sadly, the fact that WSU is a bust will cost him the Doak.

Bush is the best candidate for the Heisman, for different reasons.