It’s getting harder and harder to make a case for an SEC running back to win the Doak Walker Award.
Mississippi State’s Josh Robinson, though, anchors an interesting discussion: how heavily should we weight a back’s ability as a receiver? Robinson wracked up 110 receiving yards Saturday against Arkansas in spite of a relatively poor day carrying the ball, including a terrific one-handed catch.
Robinson (18 catches, 269 yards) and South Carolina’s Mike Davis (22 catches, 257 yards) are the two SEC backs who have made a major impact as receivers.
Oregon’s Byron Marshall leads all NCAA running backs with 40 catches for 539 yards.
Of the NCAA rushing leaders, Duke Johnson (21 catches) and Tevin Coleman (17 catches) are most effective, while Melvin Gordon (eight catches) and James Conner (four catches) rarely become receivers.
RECAPPING SATURDAY’S SEC 100-YARD RUSHERS
It was a banner week for rushing totals, as eight different SEC players topped the 100-yard mark, including a combined six in two games. Here are Saturday’s 100-yard rushers.
- Florida running backs Kelvin Taylor (197 yards) and Matt Jones (192 yards) thrashed the Georgia defense. Each scored two touchdowns on 25 carries.
- Nick Chubb rushed for 156 in the loss for the Bulldogs, adding 59 receiving yards for good measure. Chubb now has 99 touches for 599 total yards and five touchdowns since the school and the NCAA suspended Todd Gurley.
- Vanderbilt’s Ralph Webb enjoyed the second 100-yard game of his young career and by the most impressive, rushing for 166 yards in a 42-28 win against FBS newcomer Old Dominion.
- Cameron Artis-Payne hammered out 138 yards against a touted Ole Miss defense in a 35-31 win in Oxford.
- Welcome to the Josh Dobbs era, Tennessee. The athletic freshman quarterback ran for 166 and three touchdowns against South Carolina, and the team’s rebooted offense ushered freshman running back Jalen Hurd to 125 rushing yards as well.
- South Carolina’s Brandon Wilds made the most of his eight carries, leveraging a 70-yard touchdown into 143 rushing yards.
Here are my weekly Top 10 rankings for the Doak Walker Award.
| Player | Buzz | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin | The Badgers star had a boring game Saturday against Rutgers by his standards: 128 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He’s a half-yard shy of the NCAA lead in rushing yards per game. | 1 |
| 2. Duke Johnson, Miami | Johnson soon may show up on Heisman Trophy rankings. He’s produced a combined 512 yards of offense and five touchdowns against Virginia Tech and North Carolina. | 2 |
| 3. Tevin Coleman, Indiana | How long will the Hoosiers running back be able to maintain the best rushing average in the country with his team struggling and the starting quarterback out due to injury? | 4 |
| 4. James Conner, Pitt | The Panthers turned their cement block of a back into a default play call once again as Conner rushed 38 times for 263 yards and three touchdowns in an overtime loss to Duke. | 6 |
| 5. Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska | Abdullah left Saturday’s game in the first quarter with a sprained MCL. Cornhuskers fans are holding their breath he can play against Wisconsin. | 3 |
| 6. Josh Robinson, Mississippi State | The Bulldogs’ secret weapon produced just 64 rushing yards, his lowest output of the season, but also caught six passes for 110 yards. | 5 |
| 7. Jarvion Franklin, Western Michigan | Franklin ran for 182 yards against Miami (Ohio) and added three touchdowns to his NCAA-leading 22 rushing scores. | 7 |
| 8. Javorius Allen, USC | Allen produced 132 total yards in a comfortable win against Washington State. He now has nearly 1,500 yards of total offense this season. | 9 |
| 9. David Cobb, Minnesota | The Golden Gophers’ best player ranks sixth in the country in rushing yards per game and is a critical piece against a stout Iowa defense that shut down Conner in the second half earlier this year. | 10 |
| 10. Cameron Artis-Payne, Auburn | Sure, he plays in a great system for running backs with coach Gus Malzahn and quarterback Nick Marshall. But 138 rushing yards against Ole Miss still gets our attention. | — |
Dropped Out: Mike Davis, South Carolina (No. 8).
He still could put up career numbers by closing the season strong. But after totaling 69 rushing yards in an overtime loss to Tennessee, his fifth game under 100 rushing yards on the season, Davis just doesn’t have Doak Walker Award numbers. The 22 catches for 257 yards are a nice addition to his 819 rushing yards, though.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
