Arkansas running back Rakeem Boyd is on the watch list for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the best running back in college football.
It is the second consecutive season Boyd, the Razorbacks’ leading rusher in 2019, has been placed on the award’s watch list.
"I’m taking things a little more serious than I did in the past," Boyd told Hawgs Illustrated this summer. "I’m still that same dude. I’m just taking things a little more serious."
The Houston native totaled 1,133 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground as a junior, averaging 94.4 rushing yards per game, which ranked fourth in the SEC. Boyd surpassed the 100-yard mark in five games last season and rushed for 90-plus yards in seven games.
He finished with a career-high 185 yards and two touchdowns in Arkansas’ loss to Western Kentucky on only eight carries and totaled an SEC-best 134 yards and two scores at Kentucky.
An SEC player has not won the Doak Walker Award since Derrick Henry in 2015. Former Razorbacks running back Darren McFadden won the award in 2006 and 2007 after rushing for 1,647 yards and 14 touchdowns and 1,830 yards and 16 touchdowns, respectively.
On Tuesday, Boyd was named to Phil Steele's preseason All-SEC second team.