Aug. 4, 2009
DALLAS – The Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum announced today that University of Notre Dame junior halfback Armando Allen has been named a candidate for the 2009 Doak Walker Award. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top college running back.
Allen (Opa Locka, Fla./Hialeah-Miami Lakes) has been used in a variety of ways during his first two seasons with the Irish, including as a rusher, receiver and punt/kickoff returner. He has recorded a team-high 2,725 combined all-purpose yards (109.0 yards per game) over his first two years. Allen has registered career totals of 933 rushing yards on 220 carries and has three rushing touchdowns. He already ranks second all-time among Notre Dame running backs with 74 career receptions (25 catches behind Darius Walker’s record). Allen has tallied career totals of 479 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He also ranks third at Notre Dame with 54 career kickoff returns and is fourth in kickoff return yards with 1,247.
In 2008, Allen led the Irish in rushing with 585 yards on 134 carries (4.4 avg.) and added three touchdowns. He ranked second on the team with 50 receptions and tallied 355 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Allen’s 50 receptions were the second most by an Irish running back in single-season school history. He also recorded 1,549 all-purpose yards, averaging 119.2 yards per game, second on the squad.
Allen capped off his sophomore campaign in style with a stellar effort in the 49-21 rout of Hawai’i in the 2008 Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl. The running back totaled 184 all-purpose yards, including a 41-yard touchdown reception and a 96-yard touchdown kickoff return. Allen was the first Irish player to return a kickoff for a score since 2002.
The Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will select the semifinalists on November 11, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the finalists, who will be announced on November 23. The committee will cast a second vote beginning on November 30 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 2009 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on ESPN on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards on Thursday, December 10. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, February 19, 2010.
The award, in its 20th year, 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.
2009 Doak Walker candidates:
Armando Allen (Jr.), Notre Dame
André Anderson (Sr.), Tulane
Reggie Arnold (Sr.), Arkansas State
Baron Batch (Jr.), Texas Tech
Jahvid Best (Jr.), California, Berkeley
LeGarrette Blount (Sr.), Oregon
Chris Brown (Sr.), Oklahoma
Donald Buckram (Jr.), UTEP
John Clay (So.), Wisconsin
DaJuane Collins (Sr.), Toledo
Jeff Demps (So.), Florida
Noel Devine (Jr.), West Virginia
Andre Dixon (Sr.), Connecticut
Shaun Draughn (Jr.), North Carolina
Jonathan Dwyer (Jr.), Georgia Tech
Jamelle Eugene (Sr.), North Carolina State
Darren Evans (So.), Virginia Tech
Damion Fletcher (Sr.), Southern Mississippi
Toby Gerhart (Sr.), Stanford
Cyrus Gray (So.), Texas A&M
Nicolas (Nic) Grigsby (Jr.), Arizona
DuJuan Harris (Jr.), Troy
Roy Helu, Jr. (Jr.), Nebraska
Dan Herron (So.), Ohio State
Kendall Hunter (Jr.), Oklahoma State
Mark Ingram (So.), Alabama
Eugene Jarvis (Sr.), Kent State
MiQuale Lewis (Sr.), Ball State
Darius Marshall (Jr.), Marshall
Brandon Minor (Sr.), Michigan
DeMarco Murray (Jr.), Oklahoma
Daniel Porter (Sr.), Louisiana Tech
Jacquizz Rodgers (So.), Oregon State
Charles Scott (Sr.), LSU
Da’Rel Scott (Jr.), Maryland
Jake Sharp (Sr.), Kansas
Michael Smith (Sr.), Arkansas
C.J. Spiller (Sr.), Clemson
James Starks (Sr.), Buffalo
Curtis Steele (Sr.), Memphis
Phillip Tanner (Sr.), Middle Tennessee State
Vai Taua (Jr.), Nevada
Jordan Todman (So.), Connecticut
Joseph Turner (Sr.), TCU
Brandon West (Sr.), Western Michigan
-ND-