Luke Staley Season 2001

Summary

• BYU retired Luke Staley's No. 6 Jersey in 2017
• Inducted into BYU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015
• 2001 Doak Walker Award winner as the nation's top running back
• 2001 Consensus All-America First Team honoree and Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year after leading the nation in scoring (15.45 points per game), yards per carry (8.1 yard per touch) and ranked third in the nation in yards per game (143.8 yards per contest)
• 2001 All-America First Team selection by the American Football Coaches Association, The Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Football News, Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Foundation
• Three-year starter at running back before declaring for the NFL Draft following his junior season
• Drafted in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions (coming off injury late his final season)
• Set BYU record with 1,582 rushing yards in 2001, breaking the old BYU single-season record set by Pete Van Valkenburg in 1972, while leading the nation with a school-record 24 rushing touchdowns and added four more receiving touchdowns for a school single-season record of 28. 
• Finished his career holding the BYU rushing touchdown record for a career (41), season (24) and game (5)
• Earned All-Mountain West Conference Second Team honors as a sophomore in 2000 after being named MWC Freshman of the Year in 1999
• Led all freshman in scoring in 1999 with 13 touchdowns while earning Freshman All-America honors
• Earned Academic All-Mountain West Conference honors in 1999

Personal

• Parents are Dan and Dawn
• Older brother Dustin is also on the BYU football team as a defensive back
• Recruited by Washington, Washington State, Colorado, Nebraska, Cal, Utah, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona State and UCLA
• Married to Heather Jewkes

Hall of Fame Bio

Luke Staley is one of the most prolific offensive players in BYU history. His physical gifts of size and speed helped him record to one of the greatest single seasons ever by a Cougar running back.

In 2001, Staley led all of Division I football with 8.1 yards per carry and scored 15.5 points per game. He finished the year with 1,582 rushing yards, breaking the old BYU single-season record set by Pete Van Valkenburg in 1972. Staley also rushed for a school-record 24 touchdowns, tops in the nation in 2001, and added four more receiving touchdowns for a school single-season record of 28. He holds the BYU rushing touchdown record for a career (41), season (24) and game (5).

At the conclusion of the 2001 season, Staley won the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s top running back, and was a Consensus All-American, receiving first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Football News, the Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Foundation.

Born in Bountiful, Utah, the Staley family eventually moved to Oregon. Staley was recruited out of Tualatin High School, where he was named Gatorade Player of the Year and USA Today Player of the Year for the state of Oregon.

Staley played for BYU from 1999-01, before entering the NFL Draft after his junior season. In 1999 he was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year after rushing for 432 yards and 10 touchdowns on 92 carries and caught 26 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns. Sporting News awarded him with third-team Freshman All-America honors.

Despite having mid-season knee surgery in 2000, Staley put up impressive numbers in his sophomore campaign. He rushed for 479 yards and seven touchdowns on 130 carries. He also had 327 receiving yards. As a sophomore, Staley was named to the All-MWC Second Team.

During his junior season in 2001, Staley led one of the most productive BYU offenses of all time as the Cougars led the nation in points (46.8) and yards (542.9) per game. The Cougars went 12-2, winning the Mountain West Conference. BYU started the season 12-0 and suffered its first defeat only after Staley broke his ankle before the last regular season game.

Staley is the BYU career leader in total points scored by a non-kicker at 290 and is No. 7 in school history in career rushing with 2,644 yards. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft by Detroit Lions. Staley graduated from BYU with a degree in sociology. He and his wife, Heather, have two boys Tate and Crew.

Before BYU

• Named Oregon's Gatorade Player of the Year
• Selected by USA Today as the Oregon Player of the Year
• Selected as a Blue Chip Top-100 player
• Named Oregonian Player of the Year
• Earned All-State offensive and defensive honors
• Selected as the conference offensive, defensive and special teams Player of the Year
• Averaged over 300 yards per game during Tualatin's four-game playoff run his senior season

Summary

• Drafted in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions
• Doak Walker Award winner
• Consensus All-American
• Led the nation in scoring and yards per carry as a junior

Stats