Oklahoma football: Ranking the Top-7 Sooner RBs of all-time
By Connor Pasby
Editor’s note: The number seven has special significance in the history of Oklahoma football. The Sooners have won seven national championships and produced seven Heisman Trophy winners.
Playing off of that meaningful number in the tradition-rich history of Sooner football, we are publishing a continuing series of articles ranking the top seven players in Oklahoma history in seven different position groups. Today, we feature the all-time top seven at running back.
“RBU” as they have long called it for the University of Oklahoma. The Sooners have produced plenty of elite talent at the running back position. Over the last 60 years, there’s been speedy backs and bruising backs that have put their imprint on Oklahoma football.
We’ve seen the Sooners running backs play a pivotal part in the Sooners’ seven national championships: The blemishing Split-T offense in the Bud Wilkinson era, the bruising wishbone offense under Barry Switzer, and the creative and adapting offenses under Bob Stoops, have all had a fair share of elite running backs.
Here’s three honorable mention running backs that missed the cut:
Quentin Griffin
Quentin Griffin broke into the scene in the 2020 season, helping the Sooners capture their 7th national championship. “Q” scored the only touchdown in the National Championship game against Florida State and led the Sooners to a 13-2 victory to capture the title.
The 5-foot, 7-inch, 190-pound workhorse finished his career with 3,938 yards, including 44 touchdowns during 1999-02 seasons. “Q” is remembered for his dominating performance in the 63-14 victory in the 2000 Red River Rivalry game. Griffin rushed for a school-record six touchdowns in the lop-sided Sooner victory. After a Sooner career in which he ranks sixth on the all-time Oklahoma rushing list, Griffin was chosen in the 4th round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.
De’Mond Parker
The career of De’Mond Parker gets lost in the shuffle, due to the dark years of Oklahoma football in late ’90’s. From 1996-1998, Parker rushed for 3,404 yards and 21 touchdowns. The rushing yards rank eighth on the OU career rushing list.
Parker rushed for over 1,000 yards in all three seasons in an OU uniform. The Booker T Washington standout from Tulsa had battles with Texas’ Ricky Williams, during his time at Oklahoma. Parker out-played Williams in the 1997 Red River Rivalry game, rushing for 291 yards. The Sooner RB was selected in the fifth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. It was a short stint for Parker, who only started one game for the Packers before getting traded to the Detroit Lions.
Sameje Perine
For the 2014 season, Sameje Perine wasn’t on anyone’s radar as the Sooners main tailback. After a Joe Mixon suspension, Perine made a name for himself, especially in Morgantown vs West Virginia. Sooner fans got the first real glimpse of the freshmen phenom, after he rushed for 242 yards on 34 carries against the Mountaineers.
The freshmen season continued to catch the eyes of Sooner faithful and the college football world. On Nov. 22, 2014, Perine broke the FBS record for single-game rushing yards with 427 yards vs. Kansas, one week after Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon had set a new NCAA record. Perines’s single-game rushing record still stands today.
Perine is the career rushing leader at Oklahoma with 4,122 yards. He was drafted in the fourth round by Washington in the 2017 NFL Draft. Despite the short NFL stint, Perine is still making an impact on an NFL roster, this time the Cincinnati Bengals.