Aug. 19, 2004
New Haven, Conn. – The Walter Camp Football Foundation announced the names of 40 “players to watch” for its prestigious Player of the Year award, the nation’s fourth-oldest individual college football accolade. The elite list included University of New Mexico junior tailback DonTrell Moore, a two-time unanimous first team all-Mountain West Conference honoree. Moore was the only player in the MWC selected to the watch list.
Moore begins his junior season ranked No. 4 all-time at New Mexico with 2,584 career rushing yards. After gaining a school-record 1,450 yards in 2003, Moore is 1,278 yards shy of Mike Williams’ Lobo record of 3,862 set from 1975-78.
The watch list will be narrowed to ten semi-finalists in early November. The 2004 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 117 Division I-A head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced on the ESPN/Home Depot College Football Awards Show in December. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s annual national awards banquet on February 13, 2005 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.
Last year’s recipient was University of Pittsburgh wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the first-ever sophomore to capture the honor. Fitzgerald is currently a member of the Arizona Cardinals.
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 – 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.
UNM opens its season by hosting Pac-10 power Washington State on Friday, Sept. 3. The game will be nationally-televised by ESPN. Single game tickets go on sale on Monday, Aug. 23 at 8:30 a.m. Tickets will be available online at unmtickets.com, by calling (505) 925-5858, at the UNM athletic ticket office at The Pit, at the box office at the UNM Bookstore and at all Raley’s and Western Wearhouse locations. Call (505) 925-5626 for more information.
2004 Walter Camp Player of the Year “Watch List”
Marion Barber III, RB, Minnesota
Cedric Bensen, RB, Texas
Josh Bullocks, LB, Nebraska
Timmy Chang, QB, Hawaii
Patrick Cobbs, RB, North Texas
Dan Cody, DE, Oklahoma
Mark Clayton, WR, Oklahoma
P.J. Daniels, RB, Georgia Tech
Anthony Davis, RB, Wisconsin
Braylon Edwards, WR, Michigan
David Greene, QB, Georgia
Matt Grotegoed, LB, USC
Tramain Hall, RB, North Carolina State
A.J. Hawk, LB, Ohio State
Matt Herian, TE, Nebraska
Derrick Johnson, LB, Texas
Kevin Kolb, QB, Houston
Chris Leak, QB, Florida
Matt Leinart, QB, USC
Jermelle Lewis, RB, Iowa
Geoff McArthur, WR, California
DonTrell Moore, RB, New Mexico
Lance Moore, WR, Toledo
Dan Orlovsky, QB, Connecticut
Kyle Orton, QB, Purdue
David Pollack, DE, Georgia
Walter Reyes, RB, Syracuse
Chris Rix, QB, Florida State
Aaron Rodgers, QB, California
Antrel Rolle, DB, Miami (Fla.)
Brad Smith, QB, Missouri
Darren Sproules, RB, Kansas State
Justin Vincent, RB, LSU
Andrew Walter, QB, Arizona State
Corey Webster, DB, LSU
Jason White, QB, Oklahoma
Charlie Whitehurst, QB, Clemson
DeAngelo Williams, RB, Memphis
Carnell Williams, RB, Auburn
Vincent Young, QB, Texas