Five-star running back prospect Joe Mixon has been in Norman for a full year, but won’t see his first college game action until the season opener of the 2015 season in 32 days.
As most all Sooner football fans are aware, the highly touted recruit missed all of what would have been his true freshman season because of a suspension. Mixon’s suspension stemmed from an alleged incident at the end of July last year in which the top recruit in the Sooners 2014 class was accused of punching a female OU student in the face.
As a result, Mixon never saw the practice field once fall preseason practice for the 2014 season commenced around this time a year ago.
Jan 4, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; West running back Joe Mixon (28) watches from the sidelines during U.S. Army All-American Bowl high school football game at the Alamodome. The West won 28-6. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Mixon was allowed to remain in school, but he was prohibited from participating in any official activities with the football team. His suspension was lifted in early February this year and he was allowed to rejoin the team.
Rated the No. 1 all-purpose running back in the country coming out of high school, according to Rivals.com., Mixon will join running backs Samaje Perine (also a member of Mixon’s 2014 OU recruiting class) and Alex Ross in the Oklahoma backfield this season.
Perine was the leading rusher in the Big 12 last season and set a new NCAA single-game rushing record with 427 yards against Kansas in his freshman season. Interestingly, Mixon was the higher-rated running back coming out of high school. Mixon was rated the No. 53 player overall in the ESPN300 for the 2014 recruiting class, while Perine ranked No. 220 in the ESPN300.
New Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley has been impressed with what he has seen from Mixon so far on the practice field.
The Sooners are expected to run a more Texas Tech-like “Air Raid” style of offense in the 2015 season with Riley as the OC.
“This system maybe is a bigger change for the running backs than anyone else,” Riley told Jason Kersey, one of the OU beat writers for the Oklahoma City Oklahoman, recently. We’ve thrown a lot at him (Mixon), and he’s handled it well.
“He loves to play. He loves to be in meetings. he loves to practice,” the OU offensive coordinator added. “His motivation is so high that learning that stuff is going to be no problem for him.”
Jay Boulware, who has taken over the coaching responsibility for the running backs this season, also has high praise for Mixon, another one of the prized recruits the Sooners have brought in in recent years from the state of California.
“I know about his situation and what happened before,” Boulware said when asked about Mixon by the Oklahoman’s Kersey. “but the key is, what has he done since he’s been around me? When he’s been around me, he’s been nothing but a phenomenal young man. He’s been very attentive, and he’s done everything I’ve asked him to do.
“He understands it’s a blessing that he’s still on this football team and he has an opportunity to play for the University of Oklahoma,” Boulware said.
Sooner fans are hoping to see the guy in the No. 25 jersey prove his coaches right and live up to everyone’s high expectations of him on the playing field when it comes to live game action this fall.