Award list season is in full swing On Wednesday, the Doak Walker Award announced its best runners to watch for during the 2020 season. The Doak Walker Award is an annual honor given to the best runner in the nation. Second-year running back Tyler Goodson and senior Mekhi Sargent were named on the starting list.
Goodson wowed Iowa fans with his natural running ability and lightness. It has been a popular choice to be a featured player in the Big Ten next season. During his first season, he recorded 134 carries for 638 yards and five touchdowns this fall for Iowa. Goodson became the first true freshman to lead Iowa in rushing yards.
“We always work standing up,” said Maurice Goodson during the Swarmcast. “We always work on the speed of our foot, our power, our agility, our hands and our route. We are always learning other possessions, the X, the groove and the whole route tree. We always do those things so there is not one limitation that we impose on ourselves. That way, when he lines up in Y, we will catch him. I tell him all the time, there is no linebacker or security that can cover him face to face. “We are going to work on different types of hills sledding. We work on our cuts and our stair exercises going up a slope. “
“That’s T-Good … he brings that life to the game,” wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette said last season after Goodson’s first start. “When you have the ball in your hands, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Sargent and Goodson are expected to be the top two riders for the 2020 season.
Below is the full press release courtesy of the University of Iowa.
CITY OF IOWA – University of Iowa Runners – Senior Mekhi Sargent and sophomore Tyler Goodson – They have been named pre-season candidates for the 2020 Doak Walker Award, which the PwC SMU Athletic Forum presents to the most important university in the country.
Key West, Florida native Sargent (5-foot-9, 212-pound) ranked second on the team in career attempts, yards and touchdowns (119-563-4) last season. As a sophomore in 2018, Sargent totaled 786 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. It ranks 31st in rushing yards in Iowa. Sargent was named a member of the Iowa 2020 Leadership Group earlier this summer.
Goodson (5-10, 200) in 2019 became the first freshman to lead Iowa in distress. He ran 134 times for 638 yards and five touchdowns, while recording 24 receptions for 166 yards. In his first career start, Goodson ran for 94 yards on 13 attempts, including a 10-yard touchdown run, in Iowa’s 23-19 win over # 7 Minnesota.
North Gwinnett (Georgia) readiness was a second-team All-Big Ten preseason pick for Athlon Sports and Phil Steele’s third All-Big Ten preseason team.
Former Hawkeye Shonn Greene won the award in 2008, while Albert Young was a semifinalist in 2005. Chuba Hubbard, from Oklahoma State, won the award last year.
In its 31st year, the award is named after three-time SMU All-America runner Doak Walker.
In November, 10 semi-finalists will be announced and then reduced to three finalists.
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