The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Benson, Simms named to watch lists
08.20.2002 | Football
AUSTIN, Texas -- The preseason honors continue to roll in for the Texas Longhorns football team as sophomore RB Cedric Benson (Midland, Texas) and senior QB Chris Simms (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) were named to the Doak Walker Award (nation's outstanding running back) and Davey O'Brien Award (nation's top quarterback) watch lists, respectively, on Monday. The fourth-ranked Longhorns now have seven players among six preseason national awards watch lists.
Benson - a Freshman All-American (The Sporting News), third-team All-Big 12 selection and the conference's Offensive Freshman of the Year in his inaugural campaign - led the nation's true freshman running backs in rushing yards and placed third among all frosh backs in 2001. The 6-foot, 205-pounder posted 1,256 all-purpose yards, rushed for 1,053 yards on 223 carries and scored 13 total touchdowns (12 rush/1 rec), all of which were UT freshmen records. All totaled, the first-year back set or tied 13 UT freshman records a year ago. Nearly 52 percent of his yards (541) came after contact and he also caught 17 passes for 203 yards. After claiming the team's starting tailback role at Oklahoma State on Oct. 13, Benson rushed for 867 yards on 179 carries (123.9 ypg) and scored 10 total TDs (nine rush/one rec). In fact, he eclipsed the 100-yard barrier in each of his first five starting assignments (a UT freshman record/No. 2 on UT's single-season chart) and became the first Longhorn to post a 60-yard rush and reception in a game since 1984 when he did so against Kansas (61 rush/60t rec).
The award, which UT alum Ricky Williams won in 1997 and '98 (the only two-time winner), is named after the late Doak Walker, who won the 1948 Heisman Trophy and earned All-America honors from 1947-49 as a two-way back for SMU. The SMU Athletic Forum board of directors will select eight finalists on Nov. 19. before a national selection committee comprised of media members and former players will vote on the winner. This year's winner will be announced on Dec. 12 during the ESPN College Football Awards Show. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2003, at The Fairmont Hotel in Dallas.
Simms - a 2001 third-team All-Big 12 selection and one of only six returnees from the 2001 Davey O'Brien Award semifinalists list - is coming off a junior year that saw him lead UT to 10 victories (one of only eight QBs in school history to do so), complete 214-of-362 passes for 2,603 yards (No. 2 on UT's single-season list) and a school-record 22 touchdowns. The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder added six rushing TDs and tied Williams' single-season UT record for touchdowns accounted for (28). He is one of only seven returning signal callers nationally that led their team to at least 10 victories and threw for 2,000 yards last season. Simms also ranks fifth in career winning percentage and in an eighth-place tie in starting quarterback victories among NCAA returning quarterbacks this year. UT's career record holder for completion percentage (58.3%), Simms ranks fourth on the school's career TD passes chart (32), fifth on the all-time passing yards list (3,890) and eighth on the career total offense chart (3,877). He has posted a 15-4 (.789) record as a starter, which ranks eighth on UT's QB victories list.
The award is named in honor of the late Davey O'Brien, the All-American and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for TCU who led the Horned Frogs to the 1938 National Championship. Three finalists will be selected by the Davey O'Brien Advisory Committee in late November and this year's winner will be announced on Dec. 12 during the ESPN College Football Awards Show in Orlando, Fla. The winner also will be honored at the 26th annual O'Brien Awards Dinner in February 2003, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
Texas opens the 2002 season on Saturday, Aug. 31, when it hosts North Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
