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Two C-USA Running Backs Named to Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List
Nation's Most Outstanding Player Award

	Charles Sims

July 20, 2012

A pair of Conference USA players are among the 30 preseason candidates for the 2012 Walter Camp Football Foundation Award, given annually to the nation's most outstanding college football player. Houston junior RB Charles Sims and SMU senior RB Zach Line are C-USA's representatives on the preseason watch list. The Walter Camp Player of the Year award is the nation's fourth-oldest individual college football accolade.

Line was named first-team All-C-USA in both 2010 and 2011 and led the league in rushing both years. Last season, Line suffered a foot injury and missed the last three games of the season but still ranked seventh in the nation in rushing at 122.4 yards per game. He posted eight 100-yard rushing games in 10 games played and was named one of 10 Doak Walker Award semifinalists. Line led C-USA with 17 rushing touchdowns in 2011. This marks the second straight year Line has been named to this list.

Sims was a first team All-Conference USA selection in 2011 after leading Houston with 821 yards rushing on just 110 carries. He averaged 7.5 yards per rush and racked up nine rushing touchdowns, while adding four more TD grabs through the air. Sims ranked fourth on the club with 1,396 all-purpose yards, an average of 107.4 per game. He made 51 catches for 575 yards and averaged 11.3 yards per reception.

The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November. The 2012 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 124 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, December 6. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation's annual national awards banquet on January 12, 2013 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.

Please note that appearing on the Watch List is not a requirement for a player to win the Walter Camp award or be named to the All-American team.

Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp - a former Yale University athlete and football coach - is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation (www.waltercamp.org) - a New Haven-based all-volunteer group - was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.