Fresno State’s Ronnie Rivers on national watch list again. Here’s why he gets attention
Fresno State running back Ronnie Rivers, who is heading into a potential 2020 college football season as one of the most productive returning running backs in the nation, was selected on Wednesday to the watch list for the Doak Walker Award.
Rivers, a senior from Brentwood, ranks seventh in touchdowns per touch among running backs who had 175 or more plays from scrimmage. He scored 13 touchdowns on 177 rushing plays last season and three more on 43 receptions, scoring once every 13.8 plays.
The Top 10 …
- Travis Etienne (Clemson) 23 in 244, 10.6
- Najee Harris (Alabama) 20 in 236, 11.8
- Elijah Mitchell (Louisiana) 17 in 208, 12.2
- Jaylon Bester (Miami-Ohio) 14 in 183, 13.1
- Justin Henderson (Louisiana Tech) 16 in 212, 13.3
- Max Borghi (Washington St.) 16 in 213, 13.3
- Ronnie Rivers (Fresno St.) 16 in 220, 13.8
- Bryant Koback (Toledo) 14 in 203, 14.5
- Jaret Patterson (Buffalo) 20 in 325, 16.3
- Chuba Hubbard (Oklahoma St.) 21 in 351, 16.7
The Doak Walker Award is presented annually to the top running back in college football, with Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor winning it the past two seasons after rushing for 2,003 yards with 21 touchdowns last year and 2,194 yards with 16 touchdowns in 2018.
Rivers is the second Fresno State player to be selected to a watch list for a national award this season, joining linebacker Justin Rice, who on Monday landed a spot on the Chuck Bednarik Award list.
Ex-Bullard star on list
Rivers is one of seven running backs in the Mountain West to land a spot on the watch list, along with UNLV’s Charles Williams, a Bullard High graduate. Miles Reed (Hawaii), Toa Taua (Nevada), George Holani (Boise State), Jaylen Warren (Utah State) and Xavavian Valladay (Wyoming) also are on the watch list.
A running back from a Group of Five conference last won the Doak Walker in 2001 when Luke Staley (Brigham Young) took home the award. LaDainian Tomlinson (Texas Christian) in 2000 and Trevor Cobb (Rice) in 1991 also are past winners from schools that were outside the Power Five conferences.
Rivers is the son of Ron Rivers, the second-leading rusher in Fresno State history.
Last season, Rivers rushed for 899 yards behind a banged-up offensive line. The Bulldogs didn’t have a single starter from their season-opener at USC in the lineup at the same spot in their season-ending game at San Jose State, losing Netane Muti, Matt Smith, Syrus Tuitele and Quireo Woodley to injury along the way. They had 11 offensive linemen start at least one game, including four at left guard and three at left tackle, right guard and center.
Rivers still managed to gain 5.1 yards per rush, and with a big season could join his father among the Bulldogs’ top five all-time rushers.
He goes into his senior season with 2,122 rushing yards, 14th on the Fresno State career rushing list. Michael Pittman is in fifth, rushing for 3,017 yards from 1993 to ‘97.
The 10 semifinalists and three finalists for the Doak Walker Award are scheduled to be announced in November, as voted on by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee. It will vote in December to determine the winner, scheduled to be announced that month on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 11:38 AM.