Rakeem Boyd has been placed on the Doak Walker Award watch list to honor the top running back for the second straight year by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum.
Boyd has emerged as one of the leaders for Arkansas as they have started conditioning drills with coaches and he’s sporting a little bit of a different hair look.
The award is presented annually to the nation’s top college running back and is named after three-time All-America RB 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.
Boyd, a senior from Houston, Texas, was the team’s leading rusher for the second consecutive season, totaling 1,133 yards on 184 carries, scoring eight times in 2019.
He ranked fourth in the SEC and 27th nationally with an average of 94.4 rushing yards per game and ninth in the conference with 6.2 yards per carry. He ran for 100+ yards in five games, posting a season-high 185 yards against Western Kentucky on Nov. 9, his most rushing yards as a Razorback.
His five 100+ yard performances brought him to a total of eight over two years, making him one of 16 Arkansas running backs in school history to do so.
Boyd recorded 100 or more rushing yards last season in games against Portland State (114), Colorado State (122), Kentucky (134), Mississippi State (114) and Western Kentucky (185). Boyd also hauled in 160 yards through the air on 19 catches in 2019.
He ran for 734 yards on 123 attempts in his first year with the Razorbacks in 2018 with two touchdowns. Boyd earned the inaugural Darren McFadden Running Back of the Year award from the Little Rock Touchdown Club for his performance in 2018.
The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name 10 semifinalists in November, and three finalists later that month.
The committee will cast a second vote in December to determine the recipient, which will be announced live on the Home Depot College Football Awards.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
