How Texas' Bijan Robinson compares with two Big Ten standouts for Doak Walker Award

Over the past two decades, USC's Reggie Bush and Alabama's Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry have proven to be outliers.

Of the last 20 Heisman Trophy winners, only three have been running backs — Bush in 2005, Ingram in 2009 and Henry in 2015. Sixteen of the last 20 Heisman winners have been quarterbacks, which will be the case again this weekend as Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, TCU quarterback Max Duggan, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and USC quarterback Caleb Williams were the only finalists invited to Saturday night's ceremony in New York City.

So instead, the nation's best running backs will get their moment in the spotlight Thursday night when the winner of the Doak Walker Award will be announced.

Texas' Bijan Robinson, Michigan's Blake Corum and Illinois' Chase Brown — all juniors — are the three finalists. Together, they have combined for 4,686 yards and 52 touchdowns this season. Here's how they stack up against each other:

Their stats: Edge to Robinson

• Robinson: 258 carries for 1,580 yards (6.1 yards per carry), 18 TDs plus 19 catches for 314 yards and 2 TDs

• Corum: 247 carries for 1,463 yards (5.9 ypc), 18 TDs plus 11 catches for 80 yard and a TD

• Brown: 328 carries for 1,643 yards (5.0 ypc), 10 TDs plus 27 catches for 240 yards and 3 TDs

Nationally, Brown is the country's second-leading rusher, Robinson is fifth and Corum is eighth. Only three players have more touchdown runs than Robinson's and Corum's 18 and Robinson trails only Pittsburgh's Israel Abanikanda by one score in terms of total touchdowns.

Strength of schedule: Edge to Brown

• Brown faced five top-50 rush defenses and averaged 138.6 yards with five touchdowns against them. He had 140 yards and two scores against No. 3 Michigan, 129 yards and a score against No. 12 Wisconsin, 146 yards against No. 13 Iowa, 180 yards against No. 15 Minnesota and 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns against No. 41 Purdue. He also faced one FCS defense. His best game was against Indiana (No. 100) with 199 yards.

• Corum faced four top-50 defenses — technically. He started the regular-season finale against Ohio State, but played only one series. Against those other three, he averaged 135.6 yards and scored four touchdowns. He had 108 yards and a touchdown against No. 8 Illinois, 133 yards and a score against No. 13 Iowa, and 166 yards and two scores against No. 14 Penn State. He had only six yards on two carries against No. 23 Ohio State and played just the one series; he suffered a knee injury against Illinois on Nov. 18 and had surgery last Saturday. His best game was against Maryland (No. 51) with 243 yards and two scores.

• Robinson faced three top-50 rush defenses and averaged 123.6 yards with three touchdowns. He had 135 yards against Iowa State (No. 17), 57 yards and a touchdown against No. 31 Alabama and 179 yards and two scores against No. 44 Baylor. His best game was against Kansas, a rush defense that's No. 116 nationally, with 243 yards and four touchdowns.

Wins: Edge to Corum

Do wins matter for the Doak Walker Award? Not really. Among the last 10 winners have been two national champions (Henry in 2015 and Najee Harris in 2020), but Boston College's Andre Williams (2013) and Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor (2018) were on teams that had won just seven games, and Texas was 5-7 during D'Onta Foreman's Doak Walker season in 2016.

• With Corum leading the way, Michigan went 13-0, won the Big Ten championship and made the College Football Playoff, though he'll miss it.

• Behind Robinson, Texas went 8-4, finished third in the Big 12 and will play in the Alamo Bowl.

• Behind Brown, Illinois went 8-4, tied for second in the Big Ten West and will play in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

Robinson would be Texas' fifth Doak Walker Award winner after Ricky Williams in 1997 and 1998, Cedric Benson in 2004 and Foreman in 2016. Only one Michigan back has won (Chris Perry in 2003) and Brown would be the first Illinois winner; in fact, no Fighting Illini back has ever been a finalist for the award, which began in 1990. Wisconsin is the only school that has won it five times.

What are others saying about the finalists?

• On Robinson: "I can't really describe Bijan Robinson. He's just him. People reference 'Who's him.' He's him. He's just one hell of a playmaker." — UT offensive lineman Jake Majors.

• On Corum: "He's an outstanding back, first and foremost. Really good football player. That didn't surprise us. You look at film, you can see that." — Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.

• On Brown: “Their scheme matches what he does really well, especially their counter game and their power game. He’s a special back. He's got speed, twitch, quickness, power. He’s got it all." - Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Can Texas' Bijan Robinson outrun Corum, Brown for Doak Walker Award