Joe Mixon: Will He Be Wearing a Sooner Uniform in 2017?
By Chip Rouse
Sooner running back Joe Mixon is having a breakout 2016 season.
This is only Mixon’s second season in an Oklahoma uniform as an active player. An off the field incident that occurred his true freshman year cost him a year-long suspension and still taints his superlative accomplishments on the football field.
In late July 2014, Mixon was accused of assaulting and seriously injuring a University of Oklahoma female student. The prized, five-star recruit later plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge, but without admission of guilt, and was given a one-year deferred sentence, required to complete 100 hours of community service and behavior counseling.
Over two years later, the incident still casts a gray cloud around the star performer because of a continuing legal battle over the public release of a surveillance video associated with the case.
Since donning a Sooner uniform, Mixon has more than lived up to his high expectations as one of the country’s top running backs in the 2014 recruiting class. On Saturday night against Texas Tech, Sooner fans got to witness the complete package.
With Samaje Perine out with a pulled hamstring muscle, Mixon took over the lead running back responsibilities against the Red Raiders. Any concerns the Sooner coaches may have had about not overworking the talented, dual-threat performer and increasing his risk for injury were quickly put aside as Mixon became a one-man wrecking crew for the Oklahoma offense.
One of the most versatile running backs to play under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma (perhaps the next closest being DeMarco Murray), Mixon on Saturday night more than doubled his best day ever in 20 games over one and a half seasons at Oklahoma.
On the fifth play from scrimmage in Saturday night, Baker Mayfield spotted Mixon running free in the Texas Tech secondary and fired a pass in his direction that the speedy, sure-handed running back gathered in and finished off for a 56-yard touchdown. That was one of five touchdowns Mixon accounted for on the night.
Mixon piled up 263 yards on the ground on 31 carries against the porous Red Raider defensive front, and he added 114 more in receiving yards with four receptions, two of which went for touchdowns.
He becomes the first Oklahoma player to run for at least 200 yards and gain 100 or more yards receiving in the same game. What’s more, his rushing yardage in the game was the sixth best in the Sooners’ storied football history.
“I thought Joe Mixon had a game for the ages,” said Bob Stoops after the game Saturday night. “Just incredible.”
Mixon now has 771 rushing yards for the season, 18 more than he had all of last season, and he is averaging nearly seven yards per carry.
This all bodes well for the Sooners next season, right? With Perine almost sure to declare early for the NFL draft, having Mixon around for at least another year will give the Sooners a prime weapon with which to continue a strong running attack and help ease the transition in developing a new group of young running backs.
If you are like me, this may be what you were thinking while watching Mixon pile up the yards and scoring plays as the Sooners’ prime weapon against the defenseless Red Raiders. After all, you have to be three years removed from high school to be able to declare early for the NFL, and this is just Mixon’s second season at OU.
That is absolutely correct, except for one little nuance, which likely will end up as a big issue for Oklahoma football after this season.
Mixon has only been on the field for two seasons at OU, but here’s the catch: His suspension year counts as a third season insofar as the NFL three-year rule.
Given his high versatility – with speed, strength and size as a runner, good hands and terrific balance – it is hard to imagine that the gifted athlete from Oakley, Calif., wouldn’t grade out as a first-round selection in the 2017 NFL Draft.
It may be hard to believe this, but while Mixon is cheered and praised for his undeniable football talents, there are still large numbers of Sooner fans who are unable to separate his amazing on-the-field accomplishments from the disturbing incident that occurred two years ago before he had even stepped foot on the field at Oklahoma.
It is a disturbing dichotomy that likely won’t go away – and some would argue shouldn’t – anytime soon, unlike the two short seasons we’ve had to witness and enjoy Joe Mixon’s extraordinary and sometimes unworldly performances on the football field, such as Saturday night against Texas Tech.