Only one week remains in the 2024 college football regular season. With 11 games down, awards finalists are being announced left and right and the Doak Walker Award finalists have been honored. You can’t talk about top running backs in the country without mentioning Iowa and the Big Ten as a whole. To date, 32 Doak Walker Awards have been handed out and one has gone to an Iowa Hawkeye (Shonn Greene, 2008). As it’s currently configured, the Big Ten has won 13, led by Wisconsin’s five.
This year, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson is a finalist. He will have to beat out Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton. The winner will be announced on December 12.
Kaleb Johnson Named Doak Walker Award Finalist
Congratulations to our three finalists!
The 2024 Doak Walker Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN during The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 12 at 9 p.m. ET. pic.twitter.com/Uiv9ML9z9W— Doak Walker Award (@DoakWalkerAward) November 26, 2024
Iowa has been home to all kinds of top-tier running backs and Johnson is just the latest. This year, the junior running back has taken his game a step further and is having one of the best seasons in Iowa history.
Through 11 games, Johnson has amassed 1,492 yards and 21 touchdowns off 223 carries. He leads the Big Ten in both yards and touchdowns by a considerable margin. Johnson leads the conference by 342 yards and nine touchdowns. Nationally, he ranks second and fourth, respectively.
Johnson has not been denied the endzone at any point this season and has scored multiple times on the ground in seven games. Despite being held to fewer than 100 yards in three games, Johnson is averaging 135.6 yards per game, good for second-best in the country.
His 1,492 yards currently ranks as the third-best single-season performance in Iowa history. He is 358 yards off the record. He could own the record with another great performance against Nebraska this week and in a potential bowl game. Johnson already owns the single-season record in rushing touchdowns.
In addition to the Doak Walker Award, Johnson was a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award. He did not make the cut when the finalists were announced on Tuesday.
