Zach Line Named To Doak Walker Award Watch List

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Line Named To Doak Walker Award Watch List
Senior Was Award Semifinalist In 2011

July 19, 2012

DALLAS (SMU) - SMU senior Zach Line has been named to the Watch List for the 2012 Doak Walker Award, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum announced today. The award is presented annually to the nation's top college running back. Line was one of 10 Doak Walker Award semifinalists a year ago.

Line was named first-team All-C-USA in both 2010 and 2011 and led the league in rushing both years. Last season, Line suffered a foot injury and missed the last three games of the season but still ranked seventh in the nation in rushing at 122.4 yards a game. He posted eight 100-yard rushing games in 10 games played. Line has also been named to the 2012 Watch List for the Maxwell Award, which is given to America's outstanding collegiate football player.

The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name the semifinalists on Nov. 9, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the finalists, who will be announced on Nov. 19. The committee will cast a second vote beginning on Nov. 26 to determine the recipient. The recipient of the 2012 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 6 on ESPN. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held in Dallas in Feb. 2013. The National Selection Committee consists of former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.

The award, in its 23nd 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.

Nominations for the award will be accepted through October. The complete list of 52 candidates, who were nominated by their universities, follows:

2012 Doak Walker Award Candidates
Michael Alisa (Jr.), BYU
Montee Ball (Sr.), Wisconsin
Kenjon Barner (Sr.), Oregon
LeOeVeon Bell (Jr.), Michigan State
Giovani Bernard (So.), North Carolina
Rex Burkhead (Sr.), Nebraska
Jesse Callier (Jr.), Washington
Benny Cunningham (Sr.), Middle Tennessee
Orleans Darkwa (Jr.), Tulane
Knile Davis (Jr.), Arkansas
Andre Ellington (Sr.), Clemson
Johnathan Franklin (Sr.), UCLA
Ray Graham (Sr.), Pittsburgh
Gee Gee Greene (Sr.), Navy
Jordan Hall (Sr.), Ohio State
D.J. Harper (Sr.), Boise State
John Hubert (Jr.), Kansas State
Michael James (Sr.), Miami
Waymon James (Jr.), TCU
Nathan Jeffery (So.), UTEP
Walter Kazee (Sr.), San Diego State
Eddie Lacy (Jr.), Alabama
Marcus Lattimore (Jr.), South Carolina
Hunter Lee (So.), Louisiana Tech
Zach Line (Sr.), SMU
Raymond Maples (Jr.), Army
Cameron Marshall (Sr.), Arizona State
Onterio McCalebb (Sr.), Auburn
Lyle McCombs (So.), Connecticut
Curtis McNeal (Sr.), USC
Christine Michael (Sr.), Texas A&M
Latavius Murray (Sr.), UCF
Branden Oliver (Jr.), Buffalo
Joseph Randle (Jr.), Oklahoma State
Silas Redd (Jr.), Penn State
Kedrick Rhodes (Jr.), Florida International
Robbie Rouse (Sr.), Fresno State
Jarred Salubi (Sr.), Baylor
Anthon Samuel (So.), Bowling Green
Orwin Smith (Sr.), Georgia Tech
Isi Sofele (Sr.), California
Shawn Southward (Sr.), Troy
Zac Stacy (Sr.), Vanderbilt
Eric Stephens (Sr.), Texas Tech
Stepfan Taylor (Sr.), Stanford
Fitzgerald Toussaint (Jr.), Michigan
Matthew Tucker (Sr.), TCU
James White (Jr.), Iowa State
James White (Jr.), Wisconsin
John White (Sr.), Utah
Kerwynn Williams (Sr.), Utah State
Cierre Wood (Sr.), Notre Dame

On the heels of its third straight bowl appearance, SMU will host Texas A&M, TCU, Memphis, C-USA West rivals Houston and Tulsa and 2011 C-USA Champion Southern Miss at Ford Stadium in 2012. Ticket sales have been brisk, as SMU has already surpassed its season ticket sales totals for the rest of the June Jones era. For Mustang ticket information, call the Athletics Department Ticket Office at (214) SMU-GAME (768-4263).

[PonyTales]

Congratulations, Zach! Here's to a third straight C-USA rushing title.

There's nobody on that list that I look at and think "obvious All-America." There's no Trent Richardsons there. I would think that with another big year, Zach would have a chance to be a finalist after being a semifinalist last year.

[PonyTales]

For what it's worth, Zach now has 2,907 rushing yards, which puts him in seventh place in SMU history. Eric Dickerson's record isn't entirely out of reach, but it will take another huge season to get there. Dickerson had 4,450 yards, so Zach would need 1,544 to break it.

Of course, if he has a big year and carries us to the C-USA title game and a bowl game, that's an average of 110.3 yards per game, which is doable (he averaged 122.4 per game last year).