Maryland football RB Nolan Ray named Doak Walker Award Candidate

Ahmed Ghafir
Aug 5
3 min read

Exactly 25 days away from kickoff, the man who will look to shine in that jersey number for Maryland football this fall was recognized after running back Nolan Ray was selected a Doak Walker Award Candidate.

Ray will look to become a household name within the Big Ten this season as he now steps into his feature role. Ray, a former three-star signee out of Michigan, played in just one game as a true freshman before suffering a season-ending injury, but he began generating buzz as the next potential playmaker on offense in the spring of 2024 where he rounded out the rotation behind Roman Hemby. Ray’s first career touchdown came on a 48-yard rush vs. UConn in the 2024 season opener before finishing the season with 374 rushing yards on 75 attempts, 76 receiving yards on 11 catches and two touchdowns.

Ray will now look to lead a rejuvenated rushing attack behind a young, yet deep running back room littered with complementary talent heading into 2025.

“We have to be able to establish the line of scrimmage in the run game, especially late in the year, and that's what Pep’s expertise has been,” head coach Mike Locksley said on BTN.

“That's a big part of us being an advantage-based offense. We got to be able to mirror the consistent passing game that we've had here at Maryland with the ability to run the football, especially in the latter part of the season in the Big Ten,” offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton added.

Ray becomes the third Terp selected to a preseason watch list after linebacker Daniel Wingate was named to the Butkus Award Watch List two days before long snapper Ethan Gough was named to the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Watch List.

Full List:

Sedrick Alexander (Jr.), Vanderbilt

Kaytron Allen (Sr.), Penn State

Jo'Shon Barbie (Jr.), Marshall

Jadan Baugh (So.), Florida

CJ Baxter (So.), Texas

Quintrevion Wisner (Jr.), Texas

Jalen Berger (Sr.), UCLA

DeSean Bishop (So.), Tennessee

Davon Booth (Grad), Mississippi State

Fluff Bothwell (So.), Mississippi State

Alex Broome (Jr.), Boston College

Isaac Brown (So.), Louisville

Xavier Brown (Jr.), Virginia

Demond Claiborne (Sr.), Wake Forest

Jonah Coleman (Sr.), Washington

Cam Cook (Jr.), Jacksonville State

Ja'Quez Cross (Sr.), Arkansas State

Bill Davis (So.), Louisiana

Greg Desrosiers Jr. (Sr.), Memphis

C.J. Donaldson (Sr.), Ohio State

Bryson Donelson (So.), Fresno State

Jay Ducker (Sr.), Temple

Cam Edwards (Jr.), UConn

Dylan Edwards (Jr.), Kansas State

Kaden Feagin (Jr.), Illinois

Nate Frazier (So.), Georgia

Sire Gaines (Fr.), Boise State

Davion Gause (So.), North Carolina

Julian Gray (Sr.), Liberty

Marlon Gunn Jr. (Sr.), East Carolina

Anthony Hankerson (Sr.), Oregon State

Carson Hanson (Jr.), Iowa State

Ahmad Hardy (So.), Missouri

George Hart III (Sr.), WKU

Dallan Hayden (Jr.), Colorado

Justice Haynes (Jr.), Michigan

Jamal Haynes (Sr.), Georgia Tech

Eli Heidenreich (Sr.), Navy

Roman Hemby (Sr.), Indiana

Robert Henry Jr. (Sr.), UTSA

Daniel Hishaw Jr. (Jr.), Kansas

Makhi Hughes (Jr.), Oregon

Sedrick Irvin (Jr.), Stanford

Bryan Jackson (So.), USC

Parker Jenkins (Jr.), East Carolina

Emmett Johnson (Jr.), Nebraska

Waymond Jordan (Jr.), USC

Quinten Joyner (So.), Texas Tech

Aidan Laughery (So.), Illinois

Jeremiyah Love (Jr.), Notre Dame

Jordan Marshall (So.), Michigan

Justin Marshall (So.), Colorado State

LJ Martin (Jr.), BYU

Tony Mathis Jr. (Sr.), Marshall

Josh McCray (Sr.), Georgia

Jordan McDonald (Sr.), Boston College

Derrick McFall (Fr.), SMU

Makenzie McGill II (So.), North Texas

Jam Miller (Sr.), Alabama

Devin Mockobee (Jr.), Purdue

London Montgomery (So.), East Carolina

Myles Montgomery (Sr.), UCF

Jaquez Moore (Sr.), Duke

Le'Veon Moss (Jr.), Texas A&M

Kamari Moulton (So.), Iowa

Jaden Nixon (Sr.), UCF

Will Nixon (Sr.), Syracuse

Cartevious Norton (Sr.), South Florida

Jaydn Ott (Sr.), Oklahoma

Rueben Owens II (So.), Texas A&M

Lincoln Pare (Sr.), Texas State

Wayshawn Parker (So.), Utah

Zylan Perry (Jr.), Louisiana

Jadarian Price (Jr.), Notre Dame

Evan Pryor (Sr.), Cincinnati

Nolan Ray (So.), Maryland

Desmond Reid (Sr.), Pitt

Jamal Roberts (So.), Missouri

Braylen Russell (So.), Arkansas

Abu Sama III (Jr.), Iowa State

Eli Sanders (Sr.), USC

Gavin Sawchuk (Jr.), Florida State

Jo Silver (Sr.), Delaware

Nicholas Singleton (Jr.), Penn State

Joquez Smith (Fr.), Temple

Sutton Smith (Jr.), Memphis

Hollywood Smothers (So.), N.C. State

Terion Stewart (Grad), Virginia Tech

Darius Taylor (Jr.), Minnesota

Alex Tecza (Sr.), Navy

Star Thomas (Sr.), Tennessee

Jai'Den Thomas (So.), UNLV

Jaivian Thomas (Jr.), UCLA

A.J. Turner (Jr.), Minnesota

Tawee Walker (Sr.), Cincinnati

Bryson Washington (So.), Baylor

Duke Watson (So.), Louisville

Micah Welch (So.), Colorado

Jahiem White (So.), West Virginia

Noah Whittington (Sr.), Oregon

Aneyas Williams (So.), Notre Dame

Leshon Williams (Sr.), Kansas

Yasin Willis (So.), Syracuse

Terrez Worthy (Sr.), Temple

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