Rutgers running back Antwan Raymond has been named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker award. The Doak Walker Award is an award given out annually to the best running back in college football. Raymond is the first
running back for the Scarlet Knights to be named as a semifinalist for the award since Ray Rice was named a finalist back in 2007.
His name was called to be a semifinalist just one week after he was named the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week for his performance against Maryland. Raymond carried the ball 41 times for 240 yards and one touchdown against the Terrapins. His 41 carries in this game tie a school record, while his 240 yards are good for the third most in school history in a single game.
Raymond hasn’t just been a one-game wonder either, as he currently has over 1,000 yards rushing on the season, with 11 rushing touchdowns to add on top of that. On the receiving end he has 15 catches for 163 yards and one touchdown this season. He has three games this season with over 100 yards rushing, with the other two being against Minnesota and Purdue.
Raymond is the ninth player in program history to have a 1000-yard rushing season. It is also the third year in a row that Rutgers has had a 1000-yard rusher, as Kyle Monangai did it for the Knights in 2023 and 2024.
His story of how he ended up at Rutgers is an interesting one. Raymond is a native Canadian who moved to Florida to play high school football at Clearwater Academy International. He was initially recruited by Rutgers as a part of the 2025 class, where he had 20 offers from the Power Four level. However, right before his senior season, Clearwater decided to shut down their football program. This circumstance led Raymond to commit to the Knights and enroll a year early as a part of the 2024 class.
Once he got to Rutgers, he saw decent playing time as a freshman, filling in when Monangai was out with an injury and during the Rate bowl against Kansas State. After the season ended, the Knights brought in running back CJ Campbell from Florida Atlantic to be the main option in the ground-game rotation. After Campbell suffered a season-ending injury early on, Raymond stepped up to be the sole starting running back for the Knights and has cemented himself as a star player.
After being on a bye week last week, Raymond and the Knights will be back in action this Saturday as Rutgers heads to Columbus to take on No.1 Ohio State at noon. Live coverage for the game will be available on FOX.
