Daniel Lasco Named Doak Walker Award Preseason Candidate
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>>>Official Release from Cal Football<<<
DALLAS, Texas – Cal senior running back Daniel Lasco was announced Thursday by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum as a preseason candidate for the 2015 Doak Walker Award. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top college running back and Lasco has been selected as a preseason candidate for the second consecutive season.
Lasco is a national honors candidate and potentially one of the nation’s top running backs after a breakthrough season in 2014 in which he rushed for 1,115 yards and tallied 1,471 rushing and receiving yards for the highest total in those categories by a Cal player since 2011 and 2008, respectively. Lasco, who was named Cal’s Most Valuable Player in 2014, ranked third in the Pac-12 with a total of 17 touchdowns while his 15 rushing scores were fourth in the conference. Lasco has played in 32 career games with 12 starts over the last three seasons and leads all active players in rushing yards (1,541), rushing touchdowns (15), rushing attempts (283), rushing yards per game (48.2 ypg), total touchdowns (17) and points (104), with his rushing touchdown total one away from the school’s top 10. He is also second among active players with 2,035 all-purpose yards, adding another 434 yards on 44 receptions to lead all active running backs and 60 yards on four kick returns. Lasco had a memorable game in a 2014 win at Oregon State when he set single-game career highs for rushes (30), rushing yards (188), rushing touchdowns (3) and all-purpose yards (208). He also turned a screen pass from Jared Goff against Colorado into a 92-yard touchdown that is the longest pass play in school history.
The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name ten semifinalists on November 18, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the three finalists, who will be announced on November 24. The committee will cast a second vote beginning November 30 to determine the recipient.
The recipient of the 2015 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards show on Thursday, December 10, on ESPN. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held in Dallas in early 2016.
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