Hunter and Murray Named Walker Semifinalists

OSU’s Kendall Hunter and OU’s Demarco Murray are both semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:01 pm

By: News On 6

Hunter and Murray Named Walker Semifinalists

Originally Published: Nov 11, 2010 9:56 AM CDT

Oklahoma Sports Staff

DALLAS – Oklahoma State’s Kendall Hunter and Oklahoma’s Demarco Murray have been named two of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award.

The Doak Walker Award is presented annually to the nation’s top running back by the PricewaterhouseCoopers SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors.

Hunter, for the second time in his career, has been nominated as a semifinalist for this award.

Hunter leads the Big 12 and is third nationally in rushing with an average of 137.8 yards per game. He is also ranks third among the NCAA leaders in rushing touchdowns with 14, No. 17 in scoring at 9.3 points per game, and No. 16 in all-purpose yards with 153.3 yards per game.

Hunter and sophomore receiver Justin Blackmon form the nation’s only combo of a 1,000-yard rusher and receiver. Hunter has rushed for 1,240 yards and Blackmon has 1,285 receiving yards.

Murray is Oklahoma’s leading rusher with 832 yards. He’s also the team’s second-leading receiver with 50 catches for 358 yards. With 16 touchdowns, he leads the team in scoring.

The senior from Las Vegas, Nev., ranks No. 6 nationally with an average of 10.7 points per game and No. 12 in all purpose yards with 159.9 per game.

Earlier this season, Murray broke Steve Owens’ 41-year-old career touchdown record at OU and Joe Washington’s 35-year-old career all purpose yardage mark. He now has 61 touchdowns and 6,100 all purpose yards.

Other semifinalists include: John Clay (Jr.) Wisconsin, Mark Ingram (Jr.) Alabama, LaMichael James (So.) Oregon, Bilal Powell (Sr.) Louisville, Jacquizz Rodgers (Jr.) Oregon State, Vai Taua (Sr.) Nevada, Daniel Thomas (Sr.) Kansas State and Ed Wesley (So.) TCU.

Hunter, a senior from Tyler Texas also made the Doak Walker semifinalist list in 2008.

Hunter was a 2008 first-team All-American and Big 12 rushing champion. He enters the Texas game as OSU’s fourth all-time leading rusher with 3,873 yards. He is 11th all-time at OSU in scoring with 222 career points.

Hunter becomes OSU’s second semifinalist for a national award. He joins kicker Dan Bailey, who is a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award.

The 175 members of the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will trim the list to the finalists, with that announcement scheduled for Nov. 22 on ESPNU.

The winner of the 2010 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN on Dec. 9.

Doak Walker was a three-time All-America running back at SMU and the 1948 Heisman Trophy winner. He is a member of the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fames.