Kansas State junior running back Alex Barnes was one of 62 players in the nation and six from the Big 12 to earn a spot on the watch list for the 2018 Doak Walker Award, which honors the nation’s premier running back, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum announced Wednesday. This is according to a release from K-State.
Barnes is on the watch list for a second-straight year, while it is the 16th time since 1992 a Wildcat has been up for the award. Darren Sproles was one of three finalists for the award in 2003, while Daniel Thomas was a semifinalist in 2010.
It is the second watch list inclusion this week for Barnes as he was named a candidate for the Maxwell Award on Monday. The Pittsburg, Kansas, native is coming off a sophomore campaign in which he rushed for 819 yards and seven touchdowns on 146 carries. His 5.61-yard average ranked fifth in school history, while his total was fourth among sophomores.
Barnes, a Preseason All-Big 12 selection by Athlon and Phil Steele, topped the career 1,000-yard barrier last year as he enters his junior year with 1,261 yards. He hit the 1,000-yard mark on his 152nd carry, just five behind Sproles for the fastest in school history.
Kansas State opens the 2018 season on Saturday, September 1, when the Wildcats host South Dakota. The game, which kicks off at 6:10 p.m., inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium, serves as the 10th-annual K-State Family Reunion and will be shown world-wide on ESPN3.
