After combining for nearly 2,000 rushing yards last year, Georgia Southern’s Robert Brown and Dominique Swope were added to the College Football Performance Running Back Award Watch List for the upcoming 2012 season.
The CFPA awards, which honored Laron Scott as the top kickoff returner in the FCS last year, strive to provide a scientific basis. Award winners are picked on the criteria of how much they increase the overall effectiveness of their teams.
Brown rushed for 937 yards on 136 carries in 13 games and posted a 6.9 average per carry. The rising junior tallied 100 or more yards in three of the first five games and posted a pair of 90 yard games against Western Carolina and The Citadel. Brown also tallied five touchdowns on the season and just missed the second 1,000 yard season of his career.
Swope carried the ball less than 10 times in all but one game before breaking out for 165 yards on 27 carries at Wofford. He went on to tally 153 yards, including an 82-yard touchdown at Alabama and 255 yards in the playoffs against Old Dominion. Swope finished the season with 1,023 yards and seven touchdowns and averaged 6.1 yards per carry.