A pair of Penn State running backs have been named to the watch list for the 2026 Doak Walker Award. The Doak Walker Award honors the nation's top running back in college football, and Penn State is hoping one of its players can surprise a few by bringing this award back to Happy Valley for the first time in over 20 seasons.
Senior running back Carson Hansen and junior James Peoples were among the players included on the initial watch list for this year's Doak Walker Award. Hansen and Peoples are both among the new additions to the roster from the transfer portal this offseason. Hansen comes to Penn State from Iowa State, where he was one of Iowa State's top running options for Matt Campbell. Peoples comes over to the Nittany Lions from Ohio State, where he served in a complementary role in the offense.
The Doak Walker Award has been presented annually since 1990, when Greg Lewis of Washington was named the inaugural recipient of the top running back award. Penn State has had one player win the award, with Larry Johnson doing so in 2002.
Last year's Doak Walker Award winner was Jeremiyah Love of Notre Dame. The last Big Ten player to win the award was Kenneth Walker III of Michigan State in 2021. Other notable previous winners of the Doak Walker Award include two-time winner Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin, Derrick Henry of Alabama, LaMichael James of Oregon, Darren McFadden of Arkansas, Reggie Bush of USC, Ron Dayne of Wisconsin, Ricky Williams of Texas, and LaDainian Tomlinson of TCU.
Kevin McGuire is the lead writer for Nittany Lions Wire, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on BlueSky, Threads or any of these other platforms.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State lands two players on top running back award watch list