Junior running back Daniel Thomas achieved an interesting distinction last Saturday in the game against the Kansas Jayhawks. He became a 1,000-yard rusher, currently ranked eighth in K-State history.

Yesterday the SMU Athletic Forum added him to the list of candidates for the 2009 Doak Walker Award, given to the top running back in the nation.

"Sometimes he plays like he is a linebacker," said head coach Bill Snyder of the Hilliard, Fla., native. "He is not an easy guy to get down, and that is for one reason and one reason alone. It does not have anything to do with speed or size or anything else. It is just tenacity and a desire to get that extra inch or foot."

In high school, Thomas rushed for 1,100 yards and 11 touchdowns and threw for 936 yards and 11 touchdowns at quarterback as a senior. He also contributed 57 tackles and one interception as a safety. Those numbers led to his inclusion on the All First Coast Team.

Before coming to K-State, Thomas attended Northwest Mississippi Junior College and rushed for more than 500 yards and seven touchdowns as a freshman to help carry his team to a division championship. In his sophomore season, he attained 618 yards and six touchdowns on 103 carries and passed for 450 yards and two scores. For his efforts he was named a JUCO All-American.

After the KU game, Snyder had nothing but good things to say about Thomas' performance.

"What I really appreciated about Daniel were the second and third efforts," Snyder said. "He carried a lot of tacklers today. Here is a guy that did not know where Kansas was a few months ago, and still does not know anything about Kansas, but he gives it everything he has got, and he played hard."

Consider this: The K-State team as a whole has amassed 3,548 yards of offense this season. That number includes four 90-plus-yards returns by wide receiver Brandon Banks. Of those 3,548 yards, Thomas has contributed 1,137 between his 1,087 on the ground and 50 through the air. In the KU game, the rushing offense totaled 266 yards, with 185 of those earned by Thomas. Still, he remained humble as he spoke at the press conference after the game.

"You can't give credit to one player," Thomas said. "It takes a whole team. I'm a play maker, so I want the ball in my hands every play."

Quarterback Grant Gregory also had high praise for Thomas and also for the offensive line. He said it was impressive the team had a running back that carried the ball 24 times and did not lose a single yard, and he credited the offensive line for that.

"Daniel is a beast," Gregory said. "It's his first year playing running back, and I think he is the best running back in the conference, and he has two more games to prove it. He is a great player."