Batesville native among best backs in nation
Published 4:48 pm Wednesday, November 28, 2018
By Jeremy Weldon
Batesville native Darrell Henderson is one of three finalists for the Doak Walker Award honoring the nation’s premier running back, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum announced last week.
The junior running back at Memphis University leads the American Athletic Conference and ranks second nationally in total rushing yards (1,699) and rushing yards per game (141.6). He has rushed for over 150 yards seven times this season, including a pair of 200-yard rushing performances.
The former South Panola High School standout is the nation’s most explosive running back. Henderson has an FBS-best nine rushes of 40-plus yards and 13 total plays of 40-plus yards. He is second in the nation with 8.6 yards per carry, 19 rushing TD and 22 total TDs.
The other two finalists are Travis Etienne of Clemson and Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin.
Henderson is Memphis’ second finalist for the Doak Walker Award, after DeAngelo Williams was a finalist in 2005. Williams rushed for a program-record 1,964 yards and finished with 18 touchdowns in 2005. He finished his career as the program’s leading rusher with 6,026 yards.
The Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast a second ballot after the completion of the regular season and conference championship games to determine the recipient of the 2018 Doak Walker Award.
The recipient will be announced live on ESPN during The Home Depot College Football Awards show airing from the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 6 p.m.
The award will be presented at the 2018 Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet in Dallas on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. The Tigers used a record-setting rushing performance and a clamp-down, fourth-quarter defensive effort to slam the door on Houston in an impressive 52-31 victory Friday.
The win earned the Tigers to a second-straight conference West Division crown and sends Memphis to Saturday’s (Dec. 1) American Athletic Conference championship game in Orlando. The game, to be played at UCF’s Spectrum Stadium, is set for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on ABC.
