Eight Cougars Considered for 11 Different Awards
PROVO -- The SMU Athletic Forum has named junior running back Curtis Brown a candidate for the 2005 Doak Walker Award, presented annually to the nation's top rusher. Brown is one of 47 running backs that have been named a candidate for the award.
Brown enjoyed a strong 2004 season in which he ran for 789 yards and scored six touchdowns. After a slow start, Brown ran for 93 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Colorado State and then gained over 100 yards in four straight games, including a season-high 159 against Wyoming. In the game against the Cowboys, he threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Austin Collie and ran for a score that put the Cougars ahead for good. For the season, he averaged 5.0 yards per carry and was third in the Mountain West Conference with 98.0 rushing yards per game against league teams. He also became only the fourth BYU player to crack the 1,000-yard rushing mark during his sophomore year.
As a freshman in 2002, Brown served primarily as a backup but had a breakout game against Utah State. In that contest he rushed for 217 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries and caught four passes for 49 yards, including a 45-yard reception that set up a late second-half touchdown. Brown helped the Cougars overcome a 34-7 half-time deficit to win 35-34. He redshirted the 2003 season.
Brown came to BYU from Palmdale, Calif. after playing high school football at Paraclete High School. While at Paraclete, Brown set a region career rushing record with 7,045 yards and a state single-season record with 2,645 as a sophomore.
BYU's Luke Staley won the Doak Walker Award in 2001 after racking up 1,582 yards rushing to lead the nation with an average 8.1 yards per carry. Staley set the BYU single-season record with 28 touchdowns in 2001, pacing the Cougars to a 12-2 season.
The SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will select the semifinalists on Nov. 17, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will vote to determine the finalists on Nov. 18. The committee will cast a second vote on Nov. 28 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 2005 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on ESPN along with other NCFAA member awards on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 8.
The award, in its 16th 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.
With Brown's candidacy for the Doak Walker Award, a total of eight different BYU players have been listed as candidates for 11 different awards, including senior receiver Todd Watkins (Biletnikoff Award), junior linebacker Cameron Jensen (Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Butkus Award and Rotary Lombardi Award), senior offensive lineman Lance Reynolds (Rimington Trophy), junior offensive lineman Jake Kuresa (Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award), junior tight end Daniel Coats (Mackey Award), senior defensive lineman Manaia Brown (Rotary Lombardi Award) and junior quarterback John Beck (Davey O'Brien Award).