Oklahoma Football Rewind: Takeaways in Savoring Sooners Red River Victory
By Chip Rouse
OU Running Game Is Alive and Thriving
In the wins over TCU and Texas, the Sooners averaged 271 rushing yards a game, and Samaje Perine looked like the Perine of old on Saturday, running over around and through the Texas defense for his third best rushing performance in three seasons at Oklahoma.
The powerful Sooner running back totaled 214 yards on the ground and two touchdowns in Oklahoma’s 45-40 win over Texas in the 2016 edition of the Red River Showdown. It was the first time in 2016 that Perine has been over the 100-yard mark in rushing and the most he has gained in a single game since the next to last game in the regular season in 2014, when he set the NCAA single-game record with a phenomenal 427 rushing yards against Kansas.
It isn’t just Perine, however, that makes up the Oklahoma rushing attack. Joe Mixon’s speed and versatility adds a change of pace to Perine’s power running game. Mixon is contributing right at 80 yards a game, and quarterback Baker Mayfield is a run threat as well.
On Saturday, Mayfield had several running plays at key points in the game that added 27 more yards to the Sooners rushing total. Not counting quarterback sacks, which result in negative rushing yardage, Mayfield is averaging 30 yards per game when he pulls the ball down and takes off on the ground.
The running game is the catalyst that makes Oklahoma’s Air Raid offense so explosive. The fact that Mayfield was able to unload three touchdown throws of longer than 40 yards against the Texas defense was largely because the Sooners were able to run the ball so effectively and consistently.