UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State junior tailback Silas Redd (Norwalk, Conn.) has been selected as a candidate for the 2012 Doak Walker Award, the PricewaterhouseCoopers SMU Athletic Forum announced on Thursday. Created in 1989, the award recognizes the nation’s premier running back for his accomplishments on the field, achievement in the classroom and citizenship in the community.
Redd ran for 1,241 yards in 2011, the 10th-highest season total in Penn State history, en route to second-team All-Big Ten honors. He became the 12th different Penn State player to post 1,000 yards rushing in a season (20 times overall) and gave the Nittany Lions a 1,000-yard rusher for the seventh consecutive season. Redd averaged 5.2 yards on his 321 attempts and scored seven rushing touchdowns, with a long carry of 42 yards.
Also a 2012 candidate for the Maxwell Award, Redd led all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players with 703 rushing yards last October, including five consecutive 100-yard games. He was the first Nittany Lion with five consecutive 100-yard games since All-American Curtis Enis in 1997. A U.S. Army All-American for Coach Dan Gouin at King Low Heywood Thomas School , he gained career-high 164 yards on just 18 carries (9.1) in Penn State’s 34-24 win at Northwestern on Oct. 22.
The award, in its 24th year, is named for SMU’s three-time All-America running back and 1948 Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker. Penn State All-American Larry Johnson was the 2002 recipient of the Doak Walker Award.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will select the semifinalists on November 9 and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will then cast votes to determine the finalists, who will be announced on Nov. 19. The Committee will cast a second vote beginning on Nov. 26 to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.
The recipient of the 2012 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on December 6 on ESPN.
Coach Bill O’Brien’s squad returns 34 letterwinners and nine starters for the upcoming season, as well as 16 players that have starting experience.
Season tickets are available for the 2012 season, with the Nittany Lions hosting five teams that played in a bowl game last year, starting with Ohio on Sept. 1 (12 p.m.). Penn State also will host Ohio State (Oct. 27), Wisconsin (Nov. 24-Senior Day), Northwestern (Oct. 6-Homecoming), Indiana (Nov. 17), Navy (Sept. 15-Military Appreciation Day) and Temple (Sept. 22-All-University Day) in Beaver Stadium this fall.
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can go to www.GoPSUsports.com/tickets or call 1-800-648-8269 (1-800-NITTANY) weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The pricing of 2012 Penn State season football tickets and accompanying donation levels is the same as in 2011. The public single game football ticket sale begins at 10 a.m. on July 27.
