UCF standouts Isaiah Bowser and Johnny Richardson are among 73 running backs on the preseason list of candidates for the 2022 Doak Walker Award, as released today by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum in Dallas. The Forum annually presents the award to the nation's top college running back.
UCF's corps of running backs for 2022 may be as deep and experienced as the Knights have enjoyed. Leading the pack is veteran Bowser (159 carries for 703 yards, 9 TDs; 9 rec. for 75 yards in 2021), a tough, physical, downhill runner with the elusiveness to confound defenses. He began 2021 with 172 rushing yards in the season-opening comeback win over Boise State, finished it with 155 yards versus Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl—and had 55 more rushing carries than any other Knight. Speedy junior scatback Richardson (104 for 733, 3 TDs; 25 rec. for 226, 1 TD; 4th-team all-American Athletic Conference by Phil Steele) paced UCF in rushing yards after earning six starting assignments while Bowser battled midseason injuries.
Bowser is a second-team pick on preseason 2022 all-American Athletic Conference teams named by Athlon and Lindy's. Richardson is a fourth-team all-purpose selection by Athlon.
Bowser is from Sidney, Ohio (Sidney High School)—while Richardson is from Lake Wales, Florida (Lake Wales High School).
University athletic departments nominate candidates for the award and can continue to do so through October. The complete list of candidates is below:
Devon Achane (Jr.), Texas A&M
Braelon Allen (So.), Wisconsin
Rasheen Ali (So.), Marshall
Ronald Awaft (Sr.), UTEP
Tank Bigsby (Jr.), Auburn
Isaiah Bowser (Sr.), UCF
British Brooks (Sr.), North Carolina
Jarek Broussard (Sr.), Michigan State
Antario Brown (So.), Northern Illinois
Chase Brown (Jr.), Illinois
Jermaine Brown (Jr.), UAB
Nate Carter (So.), UCONN
Zach Charbonnet (Sr.), UCLA
Blake Corum (Jr.), Michigan
Travis Dye (Sr.), USC
Justice Ellison (So.), Wake Forest
Samson Evans (Jr.), Eastern Michigan
Deshaun Fenwick (Jr.), Oregon State
Alex Fontenot (Sr.), Colorado
Pat Garwo (Jr.), Boston College
Frank Gore, Jr. (So.), Southern Miss
Eric Gray (Sr.), Oklahoma
Gerald Green (Jr.), Georgia Southern
Tucker Gregg (Sr.), Georgia State
Hassan Hall (Sr.), Georgia Tech
Deion Hankins (So.), UTEP
TreVeyon Henderson (So.), Ohio State
George Holani (Jr.), Boise State
Evan Hull (Sr.), Northwestern
Mohamed Ibrahim (Sr.), Minnesota
Dillon Johnson (Jr.), Mississippi State
Roschon Johnson (Sr.), Texas
Austin Jones (Sr.), USC
Johnnie Lang, Jr. (Sr.), Arkansas State
Keyvone Lee (So.), Penn State
Joquavious Marks (Jr.), Mississippi State
DeWayne McBride (Jr.), UAB
Chez Mellusi (Sr.), Wisconsin
Kendre Miller (Jr.), TCU
Jordan Mims (Sr.), Fresno State
Keaton Mitchell (So.), East Carolina
Damien Moore (Jr.), Cal
Devin Neal (So.), Kansas
Lew Nichols, III (So.), Central Michigan
Nate Noel (So.), App State
Nathaniel Peat (Sr.), Missouri
Camerun Peoples (Jr.), App State
Dominic Richardson (Jr.), Oklahoma State
Johnny Richardson (Jr.), UCF
Bijan Robinson (Jr.), Texas
Raheim Sanders (So.), Arkansas
Will Shipley (So.), Clemson
Shaun Shivers (Sr.), Indiana
Jabari Small (Jr.), Tennessee
Chris Smith (Jr.), Louisiana
Dontae Smith (Jr.), Georgia Tech
E.J. Smith (Jr.), Stanford
Tyjae Spears (So.), Tulane
Titus Swen (Jr.), Wyoming
Tavion Thomas (Jr.), Utah
Sean Tucker (So.), Syracuse
Calvin Tyler, Jr. (Sr.), Utah State
Sean Tyler (Jr.), Western Michigan
Chris Tyree (Jr.), Notre Dame
Xazavian Valladay (Sr.), Arizona State
Deuce Vaughn (Jr.), Kansas State
Kimani Vidal (So.), Troy
Blake Watson (Jr.), Old Dominion
Treshaun Ward (So.), Florida State
Harrison Waylee (So.), Northern Illinois
Jalen White (Jr.), Georgia Southern
Jamyest Williams (Sr.), Georgia State
Nay'Quan Wright (Jr.), Florida