Sooners fans finally get what they’ve been waiting for as run game erupts early vs South Carolina

What a beautiful sight for Oklahoma fans.  

It took just one drive against South Carolina for the No. 14 Sooners to show they were about to have their best rushing performance of the season on Saturday. It was the kind of run game commitment and success Sooner Nation had been pleading for all season.

Oklahoma finds success in run game in first half vs South Carolina

The Sooners had 50 rushing yards in their opening possession against South Carolina that was capped by an 18-yard touchdown run from freshman Tory Blaylock. 

OU had just 48 rushing yards all game last week in its first loss of the season to Texas. 

The Sooners entered Week 8 averaging 122.3 rushing yards a game, which was 105th in the country. At halftime against South Carolina, OU already had 136 yards on the ground while averaging a whopping 7.2 yards a carry. 

OU’s halftime rushing total against South Carolina was already more than it had in full games against Texas, Auburn and Illinois State. 

Blaylock led the Sooners at the half with 82 yards on 13 rushes, averaging 6.3 a carry. Xavier Robinson also had 49 yards and five attempts with a 9.8 average, and was responsible for OU’s second touchdown thanks to a 10-yard run. 

Most assuring for fans that the Sooners might have fixed their run game woes was that quarterback John Mateer had just one five-yard carry at halftime. To that point, Mateer had been offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle’s best bet at finding success in the ground game, which was a major factor in the Sooners struggling so much against Texas with Mateer still nursing a hand injury.