Georgia Football: Bulldog’s Marshall, Gurley Named To Doak Walker Award Watch List
By Danny Bishop
Kieth Marshall, photo by Sonny Kennedy, http://www.sonnykennedyphotography.com/
Georgia sophomores Keith Marshall and Todd Gurley have been named to the 2013 Doak Walker Award Watch List, according to an announcement Thursday by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum.
The Doak Walker Award was created in 1989 to recognize the nation’s premier running back for his accomplishments on the field, achievement in the classroom and citizenship in the community.
Semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award will be given announced November 14 before the finalists are named on November 25. The award winner will be named during The Home Depot College Football Awards on December 12. The Doak Walker Award will be presented at a banquet in Dallas, Texas, on February 13, 2014.
Marshall, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, tallied 759 yards on 117 carries (6.5 average) and finished his first season with eight touchdowns. He played in all 14 games and started the 2013 Capital One Bowl versus Nebraska. Marshall finished the bowl game with 75 all-purpose yards and snagged a touchdown catch.
Marshall highlighted his freshman year by shredding Tennessee for 164 yards rushing on 10 carries (16.4 average), including scoring runs of 75 and 72 yards. This was one of three 100-yard performances he had.
Todd Gurley, photo by Sonny Kennedy, http://www.sonnykennedyphotography.com/
Gurley, a native of Tarboro, North Carolina, was a 2012 Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American after becoming the 12th Bulldog to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and the first since Knowshon Moreno in 2008. Gurley went for 1,385 yards, which ranks sixth in school history for a single season, and 17 touchdowns (a UGA freshman record) on 222 carries (6.2 average).
Only Gurley and Bulldog legend Herschel Walker have tallied 1,000-yard seasons in their true freshman seasons. Gurley finished 2012 with nine games where he went for at least 100 yards rushing, which ranks third in school history for a season.
Former Bulldog Garrison Hearst won the 1992 Doak Walker Award. More recently, Moreno was a finalist for the honor in 2008.
All photos copyrighted property of Sonny Kennedy,
http://www.sonnykennedyphotography.com/