Oklahoma football: Praise Eric Gray or Sooners would have no offense

Oklahoma football has led the Big 12 in total offense in each of the past four years. This season, the inconsistent Sooner offense still shows some spark but too much sputter and sits third in the conference offensively.

The difference is in the aerial game. The Sooners are averaging as many pass attempts as they did last year but getting less for it.

After a top-three passing attack in the Big 12 the last four years, Oklahoma is down to seventh this season in passing offense, averaging 234.6 yards per game, 30 fewer than a year ago. Five times this season, the Sooners finished with fewer passing yards than that, including just 190 in the loss to West Virginia last weekend.

The 2022 Oklahoma offense is still managing balance, with 221 rushing yards and 234 through the air per game, but they seem to be getting much more out of the run game, and that’s almost entirely because of senior running back Eric Gray.

Gray, a 5-foot, 10-inch, 210-pound former Tennessee transfer is in his second season as a Sooner, and he is making the most of it. This has been a career year for Gray, who was used sparingly last season at running back as No. 2 on the depth chart behind Kennedy Brooks.

Gray was not an every-down back last season, but he has stepped into the role in what will probably be his final college season. His audition for the next level has gotten better as the season has progressed. He has exceeded 100 yards rushing in each of his last four games, including a season-best 211 yards at West Virginia this past Saturday. That was the second-best rushing day of his career. He rushed for 246 yards in a game his freshman year at Tennessee in 2019.

His performance at West Virginia put Gray over 1,000 yards for the season for the first time in his career. He has 1,113 rushing yards through 10 games and averages 6.8 yards per carry, sixth best in the country. He ranks third in the Big 12 (14th nationally) with 111.3 rushing yards per game.

Gray wears the jersey number 0, but he has been anything but for the Sooners this college football season. He is 11th OU player to reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark in a season since 2014. The Sooners lead the nation in that department.

Gray’s value goes beyond running with the football, however. He’s second on the team with 29 receptions for 189 yards. That versatility and production makes him a primary weapon in the Oklahoma offense.

The Tennessee transfer has gone over 100 yards rushing in seven of the Sooners’ 10 games this season and he has a team-high 10 rushing touchdowns. He currently ranks 23rd on the Oklahoma career list for rushing yards in a season, and with two games remaining — against Oklahoma State this weekend and at Texas Tech over Thanksgiving weekend — he can move up even higher among the great Oklahoma running backs of the past.

There’s no question that Gray has been a workhorse in the Sooner offense this season. He is the first Oklahoma running back since Rodney Anderson in 2017 to record four consecutive games with over 100 rushing yards.