Texas football RB Bijan Robinson: 5 things to know

Texas football running back Bijan Robinson is one of three NCAA players who could win the Doak Walker Award on Thursday night.

Robinson, who racked up 258 carries for 1,580 yards (an average of 6.1 yards per carry), 18 touchdowns plus 19 catches for 314 yards and 2 touchdowns during the 2022 NCAA football regular season, is a junior from Tuscon, Ariz.

Behind Robinson, Texas finished third in the Big 12 and will play in the Alamo Bowl.

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The other two running backs up for the honor are Michigan's Blake Corum and Illinois' Chase Brown.

Corum tallied 247 carries for 1,463 yards (5.9 ypc), 18 TDs plus 11 catches for 80 yard and a TD. Brown's final regular-season stats: 328 carries for 1,643 yards (5.0 ypc), 10 TDs plus 27 catches for 240 yards and 3 TDs.

Here are five things to know about Texas RB Bijan Robinson.

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Bijan Robinson would be Texas football's fifth Doak Walker Award winner

Ricky Williams won the honor twice in 1997 and 1998. Cedric Benson snagged it in 2004, and D'Onta Foreman was the 2016 winner.

Many had 2022 Heisman Trophy hopes for Bijan Robinson

Many Texas football fans are disappointed Robinson wasn't even invited to the 2022 Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York.

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“We were hoping Bijan could slip into the Heisman picture, but we knew it was a slim chance," said Cleo Robinson, Bijan's grandfather. "We accepted it as a quarterback award. I think they should consider other positions. I wish they’d give them some respect.”

Before the season, there was plenty of speculation on Robinson's Heisman hopes. For that to happen, some felt that Texas would have to have its best regular season in at least a decade, and while the Longhorns finished the year strong with wins against Kansas and Baylor, Texas ended head coach Steve Sarkisian's second year with an 8-4 record, including a 6-3 record in the Big 12.

Bijan Robinson might enter the 2023 NFL draft

Several sources have Robinson projected as a high 2023 NFL draft pick.

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If Robinson declares for the NFL draft before the Alamo Bowl, Texas football fans have seen his last game in a Longhorn uniform. What's the latest word on his plans? Should Robinson declare for the NFL draft and skip the bowl game?

Bijan Robinson was the No. 1 high school running back recruit in the country

Robinson was Texas' highest-rated prospect from the Longhorns' 2020 recruiting class, a five-star prospect from Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson. He was the No. 1-rated prep running back prospect in the whole country.

There were only three five-star running backs that year: Robinson, Zach Evans and Demarkcus Bowman. Evans signed with TCU and transferred to Ole Miss this year. He has rushed for 889 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Bowman, meanwhile, signed with Clemson, then transferred to Florida, then transferred to Central Florida. He is sitting out this season per NCAA transfer rules.

Robinson was the lone five-star signee that year for Texas; the class was ranked No. 9 in the country and included other notable Longhorns like linebacker Jaylan Ford, center Jake Majors and defensive back Jahdae Barron.

If he does go pro, Bijan Robinson will leave as one of Texas' greatest running backs

Robinson has rushed for 3,410 yards in his UT career. That's the fourth-most all time behind only Ricky Williams, Cedric Benson and Earl Campbell.

His 1,580 yards this season is the seventh-best ever for a UT running back, his 246 career points is No. 9 all-time, his 18 career 100-yard games are tied for the fifth-most in school history, his 33 career rushing touchdowns are tied for the eighth-most and has scored a touchdown in 21 of his last 24 games.

Danny Davis, Cedric Golden, Kirk Bohls and Richard Tijerina of the Austin American-Statesman contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football RB Bijan Robinson: 5 things to know