427 Reasons to Celebrate: Perine Breaks Record as OU Routs Kansas

Records are meant to be broken. The long-time saying has rang true throughout history because...well...history is constantly changing, and records do nothing but support the theory. For OU's running back, Samaje Perine, he didn't need any philosopher telling him anything other than a single three letter word on Saturday against Kansas. That word? RUN.
  The talented freshman running back that bulldozed his way through the Texas Tech defense two weeks ago, and proved why the Kansas Jayhawks are a basketball school and not a football school by running for an NCAA Division 1 record 427 yards in a 44-7 victory for the Sooners! The same week Samaje ran for 227 against Tech, up in Wisconsin, a stud running back with the name, Melvin Gordon, ran for 408 yards and broke the record that was held by former TCU running back, LaDainian Tomlinson for the last 15 years. So just for fun, Perine thought he'd outdo Gordon, and break the record for the second week in a row.

Sooner running back, Samaje Perine (32), broke the NCAA record for most
rushing yards in a single game with 427 of them that came against Kansas in
a 44-7 shellacking of the Kansas Jayhawks, in Norman. 

  With Perine proving to the entire nation that he's a major threat to any defense, the matchup in two weeks against the Oklahoma State Cowboys may get easier for the Sooners. The OU medical staff has issued that their season-opening starter, Trevor Knight, will miss his third week of practice during this week, and will most likely not play in the Bedlam Game on December 5th. Sure, he has another full week after this to recover, but with concussion-like symptoms and transient quadriplegia, the seriousness of the injury may keep him out for the remainder of the season. That means that freshman quarterback, Cody Thomas, will be at the helm again for OU, and with a woeful quarterback rating of  69.3 (a D-), the Sooners will look to rely on the powerful running of Perine. Thomas has only thrown 1 touchdown in 2 full games of playing time and has thrown 4 interceptions in that same span of time. With numbers like that, the OSU quarterback situation may have a weight lifted from them. In Stillwater, Mike Gundy is the talk of the town (as usual) because he pulled freshman phenom, Mason Rudolph's redshirt agains the Baylor Bears. Yes, OSU lost, but Rudolph racked up better numbers than Thomas has collected all season, in 1 game. To concern the crimson and creme faithful even more, Thomas has only played against Texas Tech and Kansas, while Rudolph played the same Baylor team that destroyed OU, 48-14. Plus, Baylor ranks 27th in overall defense when Kansas ranks 96th and Tech ranks 126th! So you just got done playing against two of the worst defenses in the Big 12, and can't throw for more yards than a true freshman did against Baylor? Most fans would worry about something like that, but when you can constantly run the ball for huge chunks of yards all game long, a passing attack isn't really necessary! So with 227 yards against Tech and a record-shattering 427 yards against Kansas, Perine proved that he is the go-to back for the Sooners for the rest of this season, and possibly for next season. The only reason that's not a fact and just a possibility is because OU has a (supposed) even better running back, Joe Mixon, who has been suspended all season.
  Most people sit back and agree with the statement that Mixon could possibly be better, but with OU coming out in the spring and saying all these things about how good certain players are, those "certain players" haven't been as great on the field as advertised by the Sooner coaching staff. Examples? Michiah Quick, a wide receiver who hasn't been targeted very often, due to lack of playing time, which is funny, because the coaches were very excited about the freshman. Safety, Steven Parker, is also a good example of a freshman that was given high praise but hasn't proven it on the field (in a game) yet. So with this being said, as of right now, Perine is the best running back on this team, and will continue to be given the ball in mass quantities until someone proves that they are better (if that's even possible). As far as getting Perine the ball against Oklahoma State on December 5th, the statement might be easier said, then done. The Cowboys defense is way better than Texas Tech's and Kansas' combined and that will force the Sooners to rely on the unproven arm of Cody Thomas for most of the game. This, in fact, could make this year's Bedlam game the most interesting match-up between these two schools in the sense that two freshman quarterbacks will most likely be competing against each other on opposing sidelines. It will be interesting to see if the Sooners big offensive line can create holes for Samaje so that the pressure to perform at a high level can be lifted from Thomas' shoulders. Just something to think about, as the Sooners host the Cowboys at 2:30 CT on Fox Sports 1 on December 5th.

All Day Samaje! : Sooners Running Back Runs Wild Against Texas Tech

  As the afternoon turned into evening last Saturday, down in Lubbock, Texas, the Oklahoma Sooners were putting the finishing touches upon a 42-30 game they had control of against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Early on in the third quarter, the Sooners looked like they might be falling to the lesser Raiders when they were down 7-21, but then offensive coordinator, Josh Heupel, found his rythem through the running attack of Samaje Perine. Perine, who led Oklahoma to a victory against West Virginia with over 200 rushing yards, duplicated his effort, averaging 8.5 yards a carry for 213 total rushing yards to go along with 3 touchdowns. The Red Raiders defense had no answer, and with the OU defense picking it up in the second half, Texas Tech didn't have a prayer in coming back. What started to look like a huge win this season for Tech head coach, Cliff Kingsbury, ended up being a win for a Sooners team that needed one to get themselves back on track. 

  When OU took the field that afternoon, starting quarterback, Trevor Knight, was deemed unfit to perform, so back-up quarterback, Cody Thomas, took the offensive reigns for the Sooners. In the first half, OU was looking to pass the ball, and Thomas ended up throwing 3 interceptions before halftime! Once Oklahoma discovered that Perine looked more and more like a monster truck running over Tech defenders, Thomas threw the ball only a handful of time, and had no turnovers. OU needed that win very much, and with Kansas this Saturday, it looks like the Sooners might be in prime position for one of the better bowl games meant for teams that just missed the top 4 spots in the playoff. With 3 losses and TCU beating Kansas 34-30, OU is officially out of contention when it comes to winning the Big 12, and a 9-win season isn't exactly what the fans and coaches had hoped for this season.

Oklahoma running back, Samaje Perine (32), finds
space in the open field against Texas Tech on Saturday.
The Sooners beat the Red Raiders, 42-30.

  If 9 wins is unacceptable for fans, how would they feel about 8? or 7? The Jayhawks are coming off a game where they had a top 10 team on the ropes, and the way their quarterback is playing, it looks like Kansas maybe in prime position to at least make the game watchable. Trevor Knight is out again for the Sooners, so Cody Thomas will be looking to add another victory to his undefeated record (1-0), and Samaje Perine will hope to get the load of the carries. The only issue that presents itself to me, is the fact that the Kansas defense is not as porous as Texas Tech's, so the running game may not be as successful as the Sooners would need in order to move the ball with relative ease against this Jayhawk team. Thomas may have to be forced to throw the football, and with 3 picks thrown by him this past Saturday, the confidence in his decision making and accuracy is in question. If Thomas plays the remainder of this year for OU, 7 wins could be something not far-fetched for Oklahoma. No is expecting the Sooners to blow a home game against lowly Kansas, but a loss in Bedlam could be possible. Surely, if Thomas handily beats OSU (if he's called on to start again) then it's just very apparent to how big a problem the Cowboys might have up in Stillwater, but that's a topic for discussion down the line. 

  In all reality, the Sooners should whoop up on the Jayhawks and be able to coast into Bedlam. The Jayhawks have only won 1 conference game that was against a hapless Iowa State program, but you never know what can happen when your starting quarterback is sitting on the bench. Even still, Kansas is bad, and OSU is nowhere near being considered a formidable opponent, so OU might have 9 wins when the season is all over and done with. That's just something to think about as the Sooners host Kansas at 11:00 AM CT on FOX Sports 1. 

SPEED KILLS: Tyreke Hill’s 4th Quarter Kickoff Return Smites Jayhawks

  “Speed Kills.” The motto started in Eugene with the Oregon Ducks, but was borrowed from them after the Oklahoma State Cowboys escaped with a win against the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday.

  On a day where OSU looked sub-par at best, the Jayhawks took advantage of being at home (even though the crowd was at about 15,000) and of having a new interim coach at their helm.

OSU running back, Tyreke Hill, explodes down the field
as he returns a 99-yard kickoff for a touchdown to give the
Pokes a 27-20 lead in the final minutes of the 4th quarter.

  In the 1^st half, it was all OSU as they took a commanding 20-7 lead into the locker room, but the 2^nd half of the game didn’t go as the Pokes had planned. Daxx Garman became the inaccurate gunslinger that took too many chances, and Kansas’ new quarterback, Michael Cummings, played better than the initial starter for the Jayhawks, Montell Cozart, had ever played for Kansas. In fact, Cummings played so well, that he packed better stats than Garman did! As the OSU offense was halted several times in the 2^nd half, Kansas took full advantage, and tacked on a field goal and a touchdown, to narrow the Cowboy lead to 3, 20-17, early in the 4^th quarter. Then, after forcing another 3 and out, the Jayhawks had the ball on the Oklahoma State 18 yard line and were faced with a 4^th and inches. The Jayhawks had 2 options: They could go for it, and most likely take the lead with a touchdown, or they could kick a field goal and tie the game.

  Kansas opted for the field goal, and tied the game at 20. But the tie only last 13 seconds because…Speed kills. The Jayhawks had been kicking away from the Olympic track star turned football player, Tyreke Hill, for the whole game, but their kicker just couldn’t get the ball into the endzone 1 final time. Kansas paid the price for their mistake, and Hill returned the kickoff 99 yards for a score that gave the lead back to the Pokes, 27-20. But Kansas had a final chance to tie the game and send it into overtime with their quarterback, Michael Cummings. Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, he made his single mistake of the game with 53 seconds left, and OSU defensive stud, Josh Furman, picked off the first-time starter to seal the victory for the Cowboys.

  Initial analysis of this game is quite simple: Oklahoma State hasn’t played anyone good since the season started, and the true test comes this weekend when they face TCU. Further analysis would lead you to be impressed by the fact that the Cowboys haven’t lost a game in the Big 12 so far. The only reason that is impressive is because now it’s just them, Baylor, and Kansas State at the top of the conference. Kansas State could drop from that list if the Sooners of Oklahoma best them in Norman this weekend, so it really comes down to OSU and Baylor at the top of the Big 12 if the Pokes can beat the Horned Frogs of TCU. Honestly, TCU will come into this game with a chip on their shoulder from the 61-58 loss they suffered at the hands of Baylor this past weekend, so Oklahoma State maybe in for a beat down. But never count out OSU when it comes to facing big opponents. They beat Baylor off their high horse last year when nobody thought they would, and they haven’t lost to TCU since the Frogs joined the Big 12. Although those facts are true, the Cowboys are playing TCU in Fort Worth and won’t have their rowdy home crown behind them to spur them on. In fact, OSU plays very poorly away from home, even though they have won 5 straight road games over Big 12 opponents. Who were those opponents though? Kansas twice, Texas, Iowa State, and Texas Tech. Not very impressive. But that’s just something to think about as the Cowboys travel down to Aman G. Carter Stadium at 3 PM CT to face TCU.