Antwan Raymond was named the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week after his 240-yard rushing performance against Maryland last Saturday. In the Scarlet Knights’ 35-20 win over the Terrapins, Raymond ran
the ball 41 times for 240 yards and one touchdown while averaging 5.9 yards per carry.
The Doak Walker Award is presented every year to college football’s best running back. They also recognize one running back each week who, in their eyes, stood above the rest for that week.
Raymond’s dominant performance put him at 1000 yards rushing for the year and made him the fourth-highest rusher in college football this season in terms of total yards. It was also the most rushing yards by a Big Ten running back in a single game this season and the third most by any college running back in a single game this season. In terms of school records, his single game rushing yards performance was the third most ever, and his 41 carries in a single game are tied for the most ever by a Knight.
Despite all of this, Raymond did not earn any Big Ten player of the week honors. Something similar to this happened two weeks back when Rutgers wide receiver KJ Duff did not receive any of the Big Ten weekly honors despite putting up a 241-yards receiving performance.
Raymond gives a lot of credit to his mentor, Kyle Monangai, for showing him how to be a good running back at this level. Monangai has had a solid stretch of games recently at the NFL level for the Chicago Bears. With Monangai leading the way in the two seasons prior, the Knights now have a 1,000-yard rusher for the third season in a row.
Rutgers Football is on a bye week this week. The Knights will return to action on Saturday, November 22nd, to face Ohio State in Columbus.
