Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Breaking down the running back position for 2020

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 23: Running back Kennedy Brooks #26 of the Oklahoma Sooners heads for the sideline with a five-yard gain against linebacker Wyatt Harris #25 of the TCU Horned Frogs in the first quarter on November 23, 2019 at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. OU held on to win 28-24. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 23: Running back Kennedy Brooks #26 of the Oklahoma Sooners heads for the sideline with a five-yard gain against linebacker Wyatt Harris #25 of the TCU Horned Frogs in the first quarter on November 23, 2019 at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. OU held on to win 28-24. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
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The run game has been a major part of the Oklahoma football offense for as long as one can remember, and it remains so today even in an Air Raid system.

Related Story. Breaking down the offensive line for 2020. light

A year ago the Sooners averaged 537 yards of total offense per game, third best among FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams. Forty-five percent of that total was through rushing, and it was the balance provided by the ability to run the ball effectively that made the Sooner offense so dangerous and difficult to defend.

Circumstances may be a bit different in 2020, however, as OU loses 57 percent of its rushing offense with the departures of Jalen Hurts and Trey Sermon. Hurts is off to the NFL, the second-round selection of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Sermon entered the transfer portal after last season and is now at Ohio State.

The Sooners do return redshirt junior Kennedy Brooks, who was second on the team behind Hurts last season, cracking the 1,000-yard mark with 1,011 rushing yards and averaging 6.5 yards per carry.

Behind Brooks, who isn’t particularly flashy but is highly productive, Oklahoma is atypically lean at the running back position coming into the 2020 season. Normally, senior Rhamondre Stevenson would be the No. 2 running back, but he is expected to miss as many as five games to start the season with a suspension that was handed down to three Sooners, including Stevenson, prior to last season’s College Football Playoff game with LSU because of a failed drug test.

Stevenson rushed for 515 yards and six touchdowns last season. He scored the winning touchdown in OU’s 30-23 overtime win over Baylor in the Big 12 championship game last season.

Without Stevenson, the Sooners will have to rely on junior T.J. Pledger, who carried the ball only 10 times in 2019 and has just 244 yards and one touchdown to his credit in two seasons for OU. Part of that is due to injury. Pledger was a highly touted recruit and a U.S. Army All-American as a member of the Sooners’ 2018 class. This could be a breakout season for the junior running back. He clearly will have the opportunity to show what he can do.

The Oklahoma coaches are also high on redshirt freshman Marcus Major, out of Oklahoma City. He played in just three games a year ago but was injured for most of the season. He was rated as the No. 16 running back nationally by Rivals in 2019.

The Sooners also have true freshman Seth McGowan, a consensus four-star prospect from Mesquite, Texas.

It could be a transition year for the Oklahoma running backs, but they do have an outstanding offensive line blocking for them, which can often make the difference between good and great.

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