Five C-USA Players Named to Doak Walker Award Watch List

By the C-USA
Posted Friday, August 29, 2008

IRVING, Texas – Five Conference USA football players have been named candidates for the 2008 Doak Walker Award, the Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum announced. The award, in its 19th year, is named for SMU's three-time All-America running back Doak Walker, and is presented annually to the nation's top college running back.

Preseason C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Damion Fletcher is joined by Tarrion Adams of Tulsa, DeMyron Martin of SMU and UTEP’s Terrell Jackson and Donald Buckram as C-USA’s representatives on the list.

Fletcher carried 29 times for 155 yards in the Papajohns.com Bowl to finish the season with a single-season best 1,586 yards and 15 rushing scores. He has recorded a total of 16, 100-yard rushing games in his first two seasons at USM, along with seven multi-touchdown games on the ground and 26 career scores. Fletcher already ranks fourth on the school’s all-time rushing list with 2,974 yards and needs just 622 yards to become the all-time leader.

Adams enters his senior season with 2,128 career rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. He has also caught 85 passes for 936 yards and six TDs. A year ago, Adams ranked seventh in Conference USA in rushing with 1,225 yards and eight touchdowns. Adams is a two-time honorable mention all-conference selection. Last year, Adams had six 100+ rushing games and against Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl he rushed for a TD, passed for a TD and caught a touchdown.

Martin played in all 12 games and started eight contests in 2007 while rushing for 458 yards and four scores on 106 carries. He notched two 100-yards games. For his career, the senior has seven 100-yard games to his credit and has amassed 1,681 yards. Martin ranks 16th all-time in rushing on the Hilltop.

Jackson and Buckram should split time in the Miner backfield in 2008. Jackson appeared in nine games in 2007 and ranked third on his squad with 202 yards. Buckram took a medical redshirt in 2007 after appearing in the first three games of the year. He rushed 14 times for 64 yards on the season, while catching two passes for 18 yards.

The Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will select the semifinalists on November 10, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the finalists, who will be announced on November 24. The committee will cast a second vote beginning on December 1 to determine the recipient. 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 2008 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on ESPN on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards on Thursday, December 11. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held at The Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, February 6, 2009.

The DWA 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.FIVE C-USA PLAYERS NAMED TO DOAK WALKER AWARD WATCH LIST

2008 Doak Walker Award Watch List:

Tarrion Adams (Sr.), Tulsa

Reggie Arnold (Jr.), Arkansas State

Kahill Bell (Sr.), UCLA

Andre Brown (Sr.), North Carolina State

Donald Brown (Jr.), Connecticut

Donald Buckram (So.), UTEP

James Davis (Sr.), Clemson

Mike Davis (Sr.), South Carolina

Andre Dixon (Jr.), Connecticut

Anthony Dixon (Jr.), Mississippi State

Jonathan Dwyer (So.), Georgia Tech

Jamelle Eugene (Jr.), North Carolina State

Tyrell Fenroy (Sr.), Louisiana Lafayette

Rodney Ferguson (Sr.), New Mexico

Damion Flecther (Jr.), Southern Miss

Arian Foster (Sr.), Tennessee

Mike Goodson (Jr.), Texas A&M

Keegan Herring (Sr.), Arizona State

P.J. Hill (Jr.), Wisconsin

Deonte Jackson (So.), Idaho

Terrell Jackson (Sr.), UTEP

Eugene Jarvis (Jr.), Kent State

Ian Johnson (Sr.), Boise State

Eric Kettani (Sr.), Naval Academy

Jorvorskie Lane (Sr.), Texas A&M

Luke Lippincott (Sr.), Nevada

Greg Little (So.), North Carolina

Marlon Lucky (Sr.), Nebraska

Darrell Mack (Sr.), Utah

DeMyron Martin (Sr.), SMU

LeSean McCoy (So.), Pittsburgh

Knowshon Moreno (So.), Georgia

DeMarco Murray (So.), Oklahoma

Javon Ringer (Sr.), Michigan State

Kory Sheets (Sr.), Purdue

Michael Smith (Jr.), Arkansas

C.J. Spiller (Jr.), Clemson

James Starks (Jr.), Buffalo

Frank Summers (Sr.), UNLV

Tyrell Sutton (Sr.), Northwestern

Joseph Turner (Jr.), TCU

Harvey Unga (So.), BYU

Chris Wells (Jr.), Ohio State