Release courtesy of the Doak Walker Award. This is the first time in Doak Walker Award history they have named a National Running Back of the Week.
DALLAS (SMU) – Illinois running back Chase Brown ran for 199 yards on 36 carries in a last-minute 23-20 loss to Indiana – his second straight game with over 150 rushing yards – to earn the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honor for games of the extended holiday weekend of Sept. 1-5.
Brown, a 5-11, 205-pound junior from London, Ontario, became the first Illinois back to open the season with 150 yards in consecutive games and his 36 carries are the most by an Illinois player since 2004. Dating back to last season, he has three straight 100-yard games, the first Illini back to do so since Reggie Corbin in 2018. He opened the season with a 151-yard, two-touchdown effort in a 38-6 win over Wyoming a week ago.
"We can only take a step forward from here. We can't really live on this loss," Brown said after the game. "It's tough, losing by three points, but we're going to learn from it."
Other candidates for the honor in Week 1 included:
• Braelon Allen, Wisconsin: The sophomore ran for 148 yards on 14 carries, including a 96-yard touchdown run, the longest in school history, in a 38-0 win over Illinois State. It was Allen's ninth 100-yard game in his two-season career, all of them among the last 10 games.
• Chris Brooks, BYU: In his first game as a Cougar, the Cal transfer carried 13 times for 135 yards and a touchdown on a 52-yard run. BYU rushed for 314 yards – its highest ground total in a season opener since 2001 – and had 575 yards of total offense in a 50-21 defeat of South Florida in Tampa.
The Doak Walker Award presented by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum has been awarded to the nation's top running back since 1990. For the first time, the award is recognizing a national running back of the week this season. A select 20-person committee from the award's full voting body of media and past winners chooses the weekly recipient. On July 20, a preseason candidates list was released and semifinalists for the award will be named on Nov. 22. A week later, the three finalists will be announced.
The 2022 Doak Walker Award winner will be unveiled live on The Home Depot College Football Awards, televised by ESPN on Dec. 8. The annual banquet, where the winner and the recipient of the 2022 PwC Doak Walker Legends Award will be honored, will take place in February on the SMU campus.
The Doak Walker Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football's most prestigious awards. The NCFAA's 25 awards have honored more than 800 recipients since 1935. Visit NCFAA.org for more information.
For more information on the Doak Walker Award, contact Jeff Lockhart (lockhart@smu.edu) at the PwC SMU Athletic Forum, visit doakwalkeraward.com and follow on Twitter at @DoakWalkerAward
