Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Numbers to know — RB Marcelias Sutton, No. 7

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 10 : A general view of construction on the south end of the stadium before the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks game September 10, 2016 at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 10 : A general view of construction on the south end of the stadium before the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks game September 10, 2016 at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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When Oklahoma football fans see the player wearing No. 7 on his jersey break through the first line of defense and into open space, it may appear for an instant that DeMarco Murray is back in a Sooner uniform.

Of course we all know that Murray’s last OU season was 2010. In 2017, the No. 7 jersey belongs to junior running back Marcelias Sutton, and Sooner fans are likely to hear his number called a lot this coming season.

Sutton’s arrival at Oklahoma comes at a very good time, both for him personally and for a Sooner offense that, for the first time in two seasons, will be without one of the best running back rotations in college football in all-time OU rushing leader Samaje Perine and Mr. Do-It-All, Joe Mixon.

Getting to know newcomer Marcelias Sutton (pronounced Mar-SELL-ee-us) is part of our continuing series familiarizing OU football fans with some of the Sooner players they are likely to hear a lot about this fall,

At 5-foot, 8-inches tall, Sutton is a shorter version of Murrary, but the new No. 7 packs a lot of strength and speed in his smaller frame. He rushed for 907 yards and 10 touchdowns his sophomore season at Lackawanna College in Pennsylvania, and averaged almost seven yards per carry.

“You see fast and elusive guys and you see power guys, but the combination is really fascinating with this kid.” — Mark Duda, Marcelias Sutton’s junior college coach

Sutton also has shown the ability the catch passes out of the backfield, which is a value added in OU’s Air Raid offense, and has been utilized on both kickoff punt returns.

Rivals.com rated Sutton as the No. 19 prospect out of the junior-college ranks.

Sooner head coach Lincoln Riley was aware of Sutton when he was in high school in La Grange, N.C., and Riley was at East Carolina. That made it much easier to recruit the speedy running back after his two stellar seasons at Lackawanna College.

Mark Duda, Sutton’s head coach at Lackawanna, told Eric Bailey of the Tulsa World, “He (Sutton) runs with a combination of speed and power. You see fast and elusive guys and you see power guys, but the combination is really fascinating with this kid.

“He can catch it out of the backfield,” Duda said. “He’s strong enough to block, pass protect. The kid is a super athlete. There isn’t a Division I program in the country that would not be better for having him.”

Sutton is the fourth player from Lackawanna College to come to Oklahoma. Linebackers Emmanuel Beal and Kapri Ducet and offensive lineman Ashton Julious preceded him. Beal and Julious are still on the OU football roster, but Ducet elected to transfer after the 2016 season.

The more you get into his background, the more Sutton appears to be the likeness of No. 22, former Sooner running back Quentin Griffin, another player who was diminutive in stature but off the chart in heart and determination. That is exactly what Riley and the Oklahoma coaches are hoping to see from Sutton. 

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