Editor’s note: This is the fourth installment in our spring series taking an early look at the position groups ahead of the 2023 Oklahoma football season. Today we feature the running backs.
Running the football has long been a hallmark of Oklahoma football teams. Even when the Sooner offense appeared to become more pass-oriented with the Air Raid, the running game provided the offensive balance that kept defenses honest and opened up downfield opportunities in the passing offense.
The reality is, Oklahoma, like most college teams, uses the run game to increase its efficiency and effectiveness when it puts the ball in the air.
All of this to say that the need for a strong running attack is still very much a part of Oklahoma’s game, even though the perception may be that the Sooner offense is more dependent on throwing the ball as part of a winning game plan and ultimate success.
Seemingly every offseason, the question heading into a new campaign is how the Sooners are going to replace the rushing production of a star running back from the previous season. Not so long ago, it was how do we replace the production of Samaje Perine. Then it was how do we replace Kennedy Brooks. And this coming season, the question is how to make up the 1,366 rushing yards produced in 2022 by Eric Gray.
Since DeMarco Murray was hired in 2020 as the Sooners running backs coach, Oklahoma has led the Big 12 in rushing in two of the three years (2021 and 2022) and had a different OU running back exceed 1,000 yards in both seasons.
The former star Sooner running back and former NFL rushing leader likes what he has in the running back room for 2023.
Who’s out: Eric Gray
Who’s returning: Sophomores Jovantae Barnes, Gavin Sawchuk and redshirt junior Marcus Major
Who’s new: True freshmen Daylan Smothers, Kalib Hicks and Chapman McKown
“We’ve got a great group of backs who are competing for playing time and are competing for the top spot,” Murray told reporters after a spring practice session on Monday this week. “It’s an extremely talented but close room, and they’ve got the right mindset.”
Expected to rise into the top role is sophomore Jovantae Barnes, who gained 519 yards with five touchdowns and averaged 5.2 yards per carry as the primary backup for Gray last season.
Gavin Sawchuk, a 2022 recruit like Barnes, saw very limited action last season, but we got to see in the Cheez-It Bowl why Murray and the Sooners are so high on him. Sawchuk rushed for 100 yards on 15 carries against Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl last December, an average of 6.7 yards per carry, and scored a touchdown on a 15-yard run. The Denver, Colorado, native reportedly has put on 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason, which should add to his performance and toughness as he prepares for year two at OU.
“Second year in the system, second year in the (offensive) scheme — those guys aren’t having to think as much,” Murray said about Barnes and Sawchuk.
“I won’t call them veterans yet, but they worked extremely hard this offseason: Identifying the defense, understanding the scheme, understanding run blocking and, again, just being a difference maker in the receiving game.”
There is some concern, however, about Barnes’ readiness to start the season. He was seen wearing a boot on his right foot and moving around on a scooter at practice on Monday. Head coach Brent Venables is expected to provide an update on Barnes injury situation later this week.
Also in the running back mix is redshirt junior Marcus Major This will be Major’s fourth season at OU. He has shown flashes of greatness on the field, but injuries have shortened all three of his previous seasons. He scored five touchdowns in Oklahoma’s first three games last season, but only played three more games after that. If he can stay healthy, Major could be impactful addition to the Sooners’ depth at the running back position.
With the exception of Major, the running back room for next season is a very young group. Murray was successful in the last recruiting cycle in securing a pair of four-star RB prospects, Daylan Smothers and Kalib Hicks. Both are enrolled and already participating in spring football activities. We’ll probably get a chance to see them in action in the Spring Game on April 22.
Smothers and Hicks are joined by another true freshman, preferred walk-on Chapman McKown, who was a star sprinter and standout at Norman North High School.
If Murray and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby can get the right combination on field as the Sooners have managed to do each and every season over the last decade, the depth and talent at the running back position appears to be there for the foreseeable future.