Football: McGuire Nominated For 2015 Doak Walker Award

DALLAS – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns football standout Elijah McGuire picked up his third national preseason honor on Thursday when he was named as a candidate for the 2015 Doak Walker Award, which is presented to the nation’s top college running back, in an announcement by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum.
 
McGuire, a junior from Houma, La., was previously named to the Paul Hornung Award Watch List as the nation’s top all-purpose back, and the Maxwell Award Watch List, which is presented to the college Player of the Year.
 
The reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, McGuire rushed for 1,264 yards and 14 touchdowns on the season while leading the Ragin’ Cajuns with 45 receptions. McGuire joined Brian Mitchell, Michael Desormeaux and Tyrell Fenroy as the only players in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season and joined Fenroy as the only players to rush for over 2,000 yards in their first two seasons.
 
Among NCAA individuals, McGuire finished 29th nationally in rushing yards, 19th in all-purpose yards (1,848) and third in yards per carry (7.61). McGuire recorded a rushing touchdown in nine consecutive games during the season and 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.
 
Junior Ezekiel Elliot leads the field of nominees after rushing for 1,878 yards and 18 touchdowns a year ago for national champion Ohio State. Matt Breida (Georgia Southern), James Conner (Pittsburgh) and Devon Johnson (Marshall) were 2014 Doak Walker Award semifinalists and are candidates again this season.
 
The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name ten semifinalists on November 18, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the three finalists, who will be announced on November 24. The committee will cast a second vote beginning November 30 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 2015 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 10, on ESPN. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held in Dallas in early 2016.
 
The award, which will name its 26th recipient in 2015, 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 candidates, who were nominated by their universities, follows:
 
Leon Allen (Sr.), Western Kentucky
Devontae Booker (Sr.), Utah
Matt Breida (Jr.), Georgia Southern
Brandon Burks (Sr.), Troy
Jordan Canzeri (Sr.), Iowa
Tra Carson (Sr.), Texas A&M
Nick Chubb (So.), Georgia
Corey Clement (Jr.), Wisconsin
Alex Collins (Jr.), Arkansas
James Conner (Jr.), Pittsburgh
Marcus Cox (Jr.), Appalachian State
Justin Davis (Jr.), USC
Matt Dayes (Jr.), North Carolina State
Kenneth Dixon (Sr.), Louisiana Tech
Ezekiel Elliott (Jr.), Ohio State
Kenneth Farrow (Sr.), Houston
Josh Ferguson (Sr.), Illinois
Tarean Folston (Jr.), Notre Dame
Leonard Fournette (So.), LSU
Jarvion Franklin (So.), Western Michigan
Royce Freeman (So.), Oregon
Wayne Gallman (So.), Clemson
Michael Gordon (Sr.), Arkansas State
Johnathan Gray (Sr.), Texas
Aaron Green (Sr.), TCU
Travis Greene (Sr.), Bowling Green
Russell Hansbrough (Sr.), Missouri
Derrick Henry (Jr.), Alabama
Jon Hilliman (So.), Boston College
Jordan Howard (Jr.), Indiana
Kareem Hunt (Jr.), Toledo
LaJuan Hunt (So.), Utah State
Darius Jackson (Sr.), Eastern Michigan
Don Jackson (Sr.), Nevada
Justin Jackson (So.), Northwestern
Paul James (Sr.), Rutgers
Devon Johnson (Sr.), Marshall
Aaron Jones (Jr.), UTEP
Daniel Lasco (Sr.), California
Ray Lawry (So.), Old Dominion
Shock Linwood (Jr.), Baylor
Robert Lowe (Sr.), Texas State
Akeel Lynch (Jr.), Penn State
Marlon Mack (So.), South Florida
Tre Madden (Sr.), USC
Christian McCaffrey (So.), Stanford
Elijah McGuire (Jr.), Louisiana
Samaje Perine (So.), Oklahoma
Paul Perkins (Jr.), UCLA
Christian Powell (Sr.), Colorado
Shaquille Powell (Sr.), Duke
Donnel Pumphrey (Jr.), San Diego State
Demario Richard (So.), Arizona State
Ashton Shumpert (Jr.), Mississippi State
William Stanback (Jr.), UCF
Chris Swain (Sr.), Navy
Anthone Taylor (Sr.), Buffalo
Jahad Thomas (Jr.), Temple
Shane Tucker (Jr.), Middle Tennessee
Thomas Tyner (Jr.), Oregon
Marteze Waller (Sr.), Fresno State
DeAndre Washington (Sr.), Texas Tech
Dwayne Washington (Jr.), Washington
Ralph Webb (So.), Vanderbilt
Shaun Wick (Sr.), Wyoming
Brandon Wilds (Sr.), South Carolina
Jamaal Williams (Sr.), BYU
Jonathan Williams (Sr.), Arkansas
Nick Wilson (So.), Arizona