Despite being sidelined for the second half of the 2011
season, after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the loss to Texas
A&M, Eric Stephens has ran his way onto an award watch list.
The Texas Tech running back has been named as a candidate
for the Doak Walker Award.
With Stephens making the watch list, Tech now has four
student-athletes up for six national awards, which marks the most preseason
nods since before the 2008 campaign.
The Red Raiders have had two former players win the Doak
Walker Award, Byron Hanspard, 1996, and Byron “Bam” Morris, 1993. Morris also
was just chosen to be inducted into the Texas Tech Hall of Honor Class of 2012.
Stephens in his limited playing time in 2011, rushed for 468
yards on 87 attempts in just four games, that marked the most yards and
attempts through four games since Ricky Williams in 1998.
The Mansfield native has made his mark at Tech, owning the
record for kickoff returns and kickoff return yards among many other records he
has shattered.
Stephens is not alone on this list as a representative from
the Big 12 Conference; he is one of seven running backs from the conference to
make the list.
The Tech running back joins John Hubert, Kansas State, James
Waymon, TCU, Joseph Randle, Oklahoma State, Jarred Salubi, Baylor, Matthew Tucker, TCU, and James White, Iowa State.
The semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award will be
announced on November 9, while the finalists will be announced on November 19.
The winner will be revealed on December 6 at The Home Depot College Awards Show,
which will be aired on ESPN.