Today, the Doak Walker Award watch list was released as this award is for the nation’s best running back. The list currently has 53 running backs on it but more can be still added. The semifinalists for the award will be named on November 18 and the finalists will be named on November 24. Finally, the winner will be announced on December 11 during the college football awards show on ESPN.
Out of the 53 running backs so far, there are two Penn State running backs on this list, seniors Bill Belton and Zach Zwinak. Last season, Belton had 803 rushing yards and five touchdowns in 11 games. Every year at Penn State, Belton’s numbers have increased and expect them to go up again with a new head coach in James Franklin.
Finally, Zach Zwinak saw the same type of production increase as Belton did. Last season, Zwinak had 989 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2012, Zwinak had a 1,000 yards rushing and six touchdowns. The reason why Belton and Zwinak’s numbers were so high was because of Bill O’Brien’s pro style offense.
Now with O’Brien gone, I still expect both running backs to have that same type of production because during Franklin’s tenure at Vanderbilt he had a nice running back in Zac Stacy, who is now a budding star running back in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams.
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