Doak Walker Snubs Nation’s Leading Rusher
Rashaad Penny Not Named A Finalist For Doak Walker
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Rashaad Penny Not Even a Finalist for the Doak Walker Award
Today Aztecs fans were given an insulting message by awards voters in that Rashaad Penny was not named as a finalist for the Doak Walker Award. The Doak Walker Award, for those who do not know including apparently the voters who cast ballots for this year’s finalists, was according to their website: “created in 1989 to recognize the nation’s premier running back for his accomplishments on the field, achievement in the classroom and citizenship in the community.”
Well the Doak Walker Award failed to do its job and recognize the nation’s premier running back in Penny. If you go to their website there are three categories you can find under their “Candidates” button. These categories use something called the SportScource Analytics Doak Walker Running Back Ranking Tool, which ranks the semifinalists in the three different categories.
The first one is rushing yards per game leaders and Bryce Love (172.3 ypg) is number one. He played one less game than Penny (166.8 ypg) and leads by less than six yards a game. Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor (150.6 ypg), another finalist, is third. He is a little under 22 yards a game back of Love and 16 behind Penny. The other finalist is Penn State’s Saquon Barkley who is averaging 96.1 yards a game. That is 70 yards a game less than Penny and 76 less than Love. This is per game!
https://twitter.com/GoAztecs/status/932773939859808256?s=03
The next category is weekly rushing leaders which takes into account last week’s performance. Of all the semi-finalists Penny led the way with 222 yards this past weekend. This was the last impression on the mind of voters, if they bothered to even watch Penny, and yet it still was not enough.
The final category is total yards rushing leaders and Penny leads the way with 1824 yards. Love is in second with 1723 and Taylor is in third with 1667. Oh the likely favorite to win the award Barkley? He’s last on the list of the semi-finalists at 1057 yards. If you look at rushing yards among all players in college football he is actually 29th!
I understand that Barkley will likely be the first running back taken off the board. However this award is based on his play and his play does not merit him being a finalist. If you want to mention all-purpose yards which the Doak Walker Award does not, then go ahead. Barkley is not number one there either, Penny is by 48 yards a game. In all it is a travesty. Penny should be the sure-fire winner of this award and to think he is not even considered in the top three is ridiculous.
I am not calling for Penny to win the award, just to be included in the finalists. Maybe I am being biased. Maybe I am seeing things through my San Diego State goggles. To me the Doak Walker Award snubbed Penny. Big Time.
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