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Football: McGuire Adds Name To 2015 Walter Camp Player Of The Year Watch ListLAFAYETTE – With his name already etched on three national watch lists during the past week, Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns running back Elijah McGuire added a fourth list to his summer resume on Friday when he was one of 50 players named to the 2015 Player of the Year Watch List that was released by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
McGuire, a junior from Houma, La., rushed for 1,264 yards and 14 touchdowns last season for the Ragin’ Cajuns en route to be being named both the Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year by the Sun Belt Conference. He joined former letterwinners Brian Mitchell (1989), Michael Desormeaux (2007-08) and Tyrell Fenroy (2005-08) as the only players in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.
With 2,127 yards in his first two seasons in a Ragin’ Cajuns uniform, McGuire joined Fenroy as the only two players in school history to record 2,000 or more rushing yards in his first two seasons.
McGuire was named to the Paul Hornung Award Watch List and the Maxwell Award Watch List last week before being selected as a Doak Walker Award candidate on Thursday.
The junior enters the 2015 season as the NCAA active leader in yards per carry (7.9). Last season, McGuire finished 29th nationally in rushing yards, 34th in rushing yards per game (97.2), 19th in all-purpose yards (1,848), tied for 21st in rushing touchdowns and third in yards per carry (7.61).
McGuire led the Sun Belt Conference in all-purpose yards and recorded a rushing touchdown in nine consecutive games as the Ragin’ Cajuns posted their fourth consecutive 9-4 record. He accounted for a team-best 22 plays (13 rushes, eight receptions, one punt return) of 20 yards or more on the season, including seven plays of 40 yards or greater.
McGuire recorded five 100-yard games on the season, increasing his career total to nine. He rushed for a career-high 265 yards (the 12th-best total single-game among NCAA rushers during the 2014 season) on 19 carries with four touchdowns in a nationally-televised victory over Arkansas State. The 265-yard performance was the first of three straight 100-yard games for McGuire that included 116 yards against South Alabama and 136 yards at New Mexico State.
TCU senior quarterback Trevone Boykin, a Second Team Walter Camp All-American a year ago, headlines the 2015 Watch List. Boykin accounted for 3,901 passing yards and 33 touchdowns, while rushing for 707 yards and eight more touchdowns for the 12-1 Horned Frogs.
Eight players on the 2015 watch list, including 2014 First Teamers Rashard Higgins (Colorado State, wide receiver) and Scooby Wright III (Arizona, linebacker), have previously earned Walter Camp All-America honors.
In all, 37 schools are represented on the list with defending national champion Ohio State having five players, including its three quarterbacks. There are 37 offensive players (22 quarterbacks, 11 running backs and four receivers) and 13 from the defensive side of the ball (5 linebackers, 5 defensive backs and 3 defensive linemen).
"We are proud to continue the great work of Walter Camp and recognize the best college football players in the nation," Foundation president Robert Kauffman said. "This watch list is a great start to what is shaping up to be another exciting year of college football."
The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November. The 2015 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 128 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, December 10. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s annual national awards banquet on January 16, 2016 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven
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