Samaje Perine Begins 2015 Season on 3 National Award Watch Lists
By Chip Rouse
Sophomore running back Samaje Perine came out of nowhere at the start of last season, but by the end of the year, he was one of the biggest success stories in Big 12 football.
Perine began the 2014 season as the No. 3 running back on the Sooner depth chart, but that quickly changed after the first few games.
No. 1 running back Keith Ford suffered an early season leg injury, and that was all the door opening that Perine needed to establish his place in the OU backfield.
Perine went on to lead the Big 12 in rushing as a freshman in 2014, and along the way set a new single-game rushing record with a 427-yard performance against Kansas. For the record, Ford is no longer with the team, electing to transfer after being indefinitely suspended in March.
Perine now not only is No. 1 on the OU depth chart, but No. 1 among Big 12 running backs headed into the coming season.
While virtually no one around the country knew his name a year ago, that is far from the case heading into the 2015 college season. Perine is a preseason candidate for three national awards this season.
On Thursday, Perine became one of 69 college players named to the preseason watch list for the 2015 Doak Walker Award, which recognizes the best running back in the country every season. Today he was named a preseason candidate for the Walter Camp Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding player in college football.
Perine is one of four Big 12 players who are in consideration prior to the opening of the 2015 season for the prestigious Walter Camp Trophy. The others are quarterback Trevone Boykin of TCU, defensive end Shawn Oakman of Baylor and Dante Barnett, a defensive back for Kansas State.
The Walter Camp Trophy committee will trim the candidate list to 10 semifinalists sometime in mid-November. The winner will be announced on Dec. 10. A player does not have to be included on the preseason candidate list to be eligible for the award.
Only one Oklahoma player has won the Walter Camp Trophy since the Big 12 was formed. Josh Heupel won the award in 2000, the season the Sooners won their seventh national championship and the first under head coach Bob Stoops.
Before the Big 12 came into existence, two former OU Heisman Trophy winners, running backs Steve Owens and Billy Sims, were awarded to Walter Camp Trophy in 1969 and 1978, respectively.