Bijan Robinson named to Doak Walker Award watch list

AUSTIN, Texas — Sophomore Texas running back Bijan Robinson was named Wednesday to the watch list for the Doak Walker Award, which is given by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum to the nation's top college running back.

The award is named for the SMU legend who earned All-America recognition three times, and 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.

A Longhorn has won the award four times: Ricky Williams claimed the award in 1997 and 1998, Cedric Benson in 2004 and D’Onta Foreman a dozen years later, in 2016. The only program that has produced the award’s winner more times is Wisconsin — it has been won by a Badger ball carrier five times.

The emerging UT star also was also named to the Maxwell Award watch list this week.

He appeared in nine games, leading the Longhorns with 703 rushing yards — Robinson is one of just 11 Texas freshmen to crack the 700-yard rushing plateau — on 86 carries (averaging a program-record 8.2 yards per carry) and rushing for four touchdowns. He was also the team’s fifth-leading receiver with 15 catches for 196 yards and two more touchdowns. 

Robinson earned Offensive MVP honors at the Alamo Bowl, when he carried the ball 10 times for 183 yards (18.3 yards per carry) and one touchdown, and caught two passes for 37 yards and two touchdowns. His 183 rushing yards were the most ever by a UT freshman in a bowl game, and the fourth-most by a Longhorn, regardless of class, in a bowl game all-time. It was the sixth-best rushing game in terms of yardage by a freshman in school history overall and the third game of the season in which Robinson rushed for at least 100 yards.

The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name 10 semifinalists in November, and three finalists, as voted on by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, will be announced in November. The committee will cast a second vote in December to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of past recipients, former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives. The recipient of the 2020 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards.