Michigan football's Blake Corum, MSU's Jarek Broussard make Doak Walker Award watch list
Michigan football's Blake Corum has yet to start a game as the Wolverines running back.
Michigan State football's Jarek Broussard has yet to play a snap in the green and white.
But that hasn't slowed the expectations for both entering the 2022 season.
Corum and Broussard — along with 71 other backs around the country — were named to the Doak Walker Award watch list, an annual award that recognizes the top running back in college football.
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Last season, the honor went to Michigan State's Kenneth Walker III, who took college football by storm. The first carry of his MSU career went 75 yards for a touchdown a season ago against Northwestern and Walker never looked back.
He finished with 263 carries for 1,636 yards (second in the nation) and 18 rushing touchdowns (eighth) and was drafted in the second round by the Seattle Seahawks.
Corum was named to the Maxwell Award watch list Monday, given to the nation's top player, so this recognition felt like a formality.
In a split role as the No. 2 man a season ago, Corum racked up 952 yards on 144 rushes (6.6 yards per carry) and scored 11 rushing touchdowns in 12 games, to go with 24 receptions for 141 yards and another score.
While Corum, a speedster at 5 feet 8 and 200 pounds, will split time with sophomore Donovan Edwards, Corum is expected to be the feature back.
The Spartans added two transfer running backs — Colorado's Broussard and Wisconsin's Jalen Berger — with Broussard seen as the front-runner to be the starter going into fall camp.
Broussard, a grad transfer, was named the Pac-12's Offensive Player of the Year in 2020, rushing 156 times for 895 yards and five touchdowns in just six games with the seasoned shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among those contests included a record-setting 301-yard rushing performance in a 24-13 win over Arizona. Colorado's offense struggled in 2021 so Broussard's numbers took a step back, rushing for 662 yards on 147 carries (4.7 YPC) and two scores.
The other Big Ten representatives are: TreyVeon Henderson (Ohio State, sophomore), Chase Brown (Illinois, junior), Evan Hull (Northwestern, redshirt sophomore), Braelon Allen (Wisconsin, sophomore), Keyvone Lee (Penn State, sophomore), Shaun Shivers (Indiana, senior), Chez Mellusi (Wisconsin, senior) and Mohamed Ibrahim (Minnesota, senior).
Michigan MAC Schools represented
All three Mid-American Conference schools from the mitten were represented on the list as well, starting with Central Michigan's Lew Nichols III.
Nichols led the nation in all-purpose yards (2,186), rushing yards (1,848) and yards per game (142.2) in 2021 while earning MAC Offensive Player of the Year.
Eastern Michigan's Samson Evans is expected to have a larger role in his junior season, after rushing 83 times for 316 yards and a team-high 13 touchdowns a season ago.
Western Michigan's Sean Tyler is also one of the MAC's top rushing. He comes off a career year, having rushed 178 times for 1,150 yards (6.5 YPC) and nine touchdowns. The second-team All-MAC back also caught 14 balls for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's Blake Corum, MSU's Broussard make Doak Walker list
