Last year Oklahoma football came within just 53 yards of becoming only the second FBS team in history to produce three 1,000-yard rushers.
Oklahoma football’s Kyler Murray finished the year with 1,001 yards, Kennedy Brooks had 1,056 and Trey Sermon rushed for 947, coming just short of something only the 2009 Nevada Wolfpack have accomplished.
It’s a staggering stat, especially considering none of these three players entered the season as the No. 1 rusher on the team. That distinction belonged to Rodney Anderson, who was injured just two games into the season.
It’s crazy to think that none of the old-school wishbone squads from the 70s and 80s, always loaded with talented running backs and a capable running quarterback, managed to topple this feat, but an extra game plus a hurry up offense that creates more snaps are also at least partially responsible.
The Sooners certainly have all the pieces to pull it off this year with both Sermon and Brooks returning, plus the addition of Jalen Hurts. Hurts rushed for 956 yards in his freshman year at Alabama and 855 as a sophomore.
Still, there are a few things working against the Sooners getting three guys over 1,000 yards this season.
Retooled O-line
Four new starters on the offensive line has to take at least a slight toll on a team’s running game. When four of those previous starters are now in the NFL it’s even harder.
Though the Sooners will have talent up front, it will take a few games to develop the kind of chemistry required to put up the numbers they did a year ago. Expect to see Oklahoma rely on short passes to a talented and deep receiving corps while they gel up front.
More mouths to feed
TJ Pledger was simply too good to redshirt as a freshman, but not quite ready to step into the running back rotation full time. With a full offseason in the weight program it’s going to be hard to keep the ball out of his hands as Oklahoma continues its go-with-who’s-hot approach to the running game.
Add in two new arrivals – in-state product Marcus Major and JUCO running back Rhamondre Stevenson – and things start getting really crowded back there. Granted one or both of these will probably either red shirt or be religated to special teams duty this year, but it seems highly likely between the two of them and Pledger there will be at least one more back in the rotation.
So no, it doesn’t look likely that Oklahoma will come close to toppling this rare rushing feat in 2019, but having too many weapons is never a bad thing, especially when you have Lincoln Riley moving the chess pieces around.