Texas Longhorns RB Jonathon Brooks Named Doak Walker Award Semifinalist

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Longhorns running back Jonathon Brooks has been named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, per an announcement Tuesday. The award is given annually to the most outstanding running back in college football.

Brooks, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the 29-26 win over the TCU Horned Frogs on Nov. 11, finished his breakout season with 187 carries for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns to go along with 25 catches for 286 yards and one score.

Should he win the award, the Longhorns would have back-to-back Doak Walker winners after Bijan Robinson won it last season.

Brooks is currently the No. 1-ranked running back in the 2024 according to PFF’s rankings. This is despite the fact that true freshman CJ Baxter started the first two games of the season.

Prior to his injury, Brooks said it feels good to see he and Baxter being able to feed off of each other. If Brooks decides not to pursue the NFL just yet, the duo could lead the backfield once again next season.

"Feels good that we can kind of feed off each other and I feel like whether you put any back back there that we have," Brooks said. "We're gonna get the job done. We're gonna go out there and we have a lot of confidence in myself. We practice hard. We do drills hard. And yeah, I just feel like we just we practice hard so it kind of comes not natural, but it's not surprising."

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With Baxter the RB1 the rest of the way, the Longhorns get set for their regular-season finale against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at home on Friday.