Ohio State RB Trey Sermon left Oklahoma for this game, for this moment
That Trey Sermon left Oklahoma 10 months ago now says one thing.
But Sermon leaving a place like OU for the splendor and prestige of a college football blue blood like Ohio State says something else entirely.
Sermon and the Buckeyes play No. 1-ranked Alabama tonight at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, with college football’s ultimate prize hanging in the balance: a national championship.
Seven days ago, Sermon experienced his first victory in the College Football Playoff, a scintillating win over postseason heavyweight Clemson. Previously, Sermon’s playoff experience consisted of a loss to Georgia in Anaheim, a loss to Alabama in Miami, and a loss to LSU in New Orleans.
To be fair, it would be revisionist history to say that playing in the national championship motivated Sermon to leave Oklahoma. That wasn’t it.
Trey Sermon at OU
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He left Norman after he was removed from the game plan — starting with last year’s game against Texas — and later sustained a knee injury. Sermon’s running backs coach made a lateral move to Texas and was replaced by DeMarco Murray, but head coach Lincoln Riley never offered a public explanation for why Sermon only got 11 touches in his final four games, saying only that Sermon became “frustrated” with his diminished role prior to the injury as quarterback Jalen Hurts led the team in rushing and sophomore Kennedy Brooks emerged as the lead running back.
“Trey did a tremendous job here,” Lincoln Riley said during the offseason after Sermon landed at Ohio State. “I mean, he was a great Sooner. A really, really good teammate. Had some, obviously, some really, really nice moments here throughout his career. So, loved the three years we had with him. Hated that it ended the way it did for him. Middle of last season, I know he was frustrated, and then obviously the injury, it was just such a horrible way for it to end. So, hate that it ended on a sour note for him, because he did such a great job here.”
During media day for the national championship showdown last week, Sermon didn’t offer much clarity about his feelings when he decided to leave Oklahoma.
“I just wanted a better opportunity for myself,” Sermon said, “and I felt like it was just a good fit for me to come here.”
Ohio State coach Ryan Day and the Buckeyes are glad he did. After not playing much early in Ohio State’s truncated season (he had 45 carries for 242 yards in the first four games), he has exploded in his last three games, with 112 yards and a touchdown against Michigan State, a school-record 331 yards and two TDs against Northwestern in the Big Ten title game, and 193 yards and a touchdown against Clemson in the CFP semifinal.
Trey Sermon hurdles a Northwestern defender
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Sermon carried 29 and 31 times in his previous two games — more than he carried (54) in 10 games during his entire junior season at Oklahoma.
“Certainly when he had an opportunity to transfer … (I) had a great conversation with coach Riley,” Day said, “and he had nothing but great things to say about Trey and it just seemed like the right fit here.”
Alabama coach Nick Saban remembers Sermon from the Crimson Tide’s victory over Oklahoma two years ago (Sermon rushed nine times for 19 yards and a touchdown and caught one pass for zero yards), and he’s certainly taken notice of Sermon’s exploits in Columbus.
“Trey Sermon is a really, really good player,” Saban said. “Ohio State has a really good offensive scheme. The balance that they create, run and pass, with the weapons that they have — which is (an) outstanding receiver corps, really good tight ends, good offensive line, a quarterback who has played extremely well — Trey has taken advantage of all those circumstances and situations and played extremely well, especially against Clemson last week. He had a phenomenal game. I think he's an outstanding player and certainly going to be a challenge for us.”
Trey Sermon hurdles a Clemson defender
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
There was, of course, plenty of history with Ohio State for Sermon to go on.
Sermon hails from Georgia but had Ohio State among his finalists as a recruit. He had a relationship with Buckeyes running backs coach Tony Alford. And as an OU freshman, Sermon’s second college football game was against the Buckeyes in Columbus, when he rushed 17 times for 62 yards and caught three passes for 23 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown in the Sooners’ 31-16 statement win.
As such, Sermon said it all feels like part plan, part dream.
“When I came here, my goal was to do whatever I can to help this team out and play for a National Championship. It's all happened, and it does kind of seem like a dream,” he said. “But it's just very exciting, just to know that we've come this far as a team. We've executed, and we believe in each other. Just having this opportunity, it's amazing. We're all excited.”
Sooner Nation is certain they’ve seen this version of Trey Sermon before. He torched Baylor for 148 yards and two TDs on just 12 carries as a freshman. He gained 119 yards on 18 carries against Army in 2018, then added 110 and two scores at TCU and 124 and two TDs against Oklahoma State, with his masterstroke in between — 206 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries at Texas Tech.
Trey Sermon against Clemson
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Sermon rushed for 2,076 yards in his three seasons at OU, which ranks 29th in school history (one spot ahead of Brooks), including 744 as a true freshman and 947 as a sophomore.
Even the weeks leading up to his benching, he was second among Sooner running backs with 45 carries for 345 yards and four touchdowns. He ran 11 times for 71 yards, caught two passes for 20 yards and scored twice against Kansas the week before the Red River Rivalry.
Then against Texas, he played but got no carries. He got five carries in a blowout over West Virginia, three carries in the loss at Kansas State, and then just one carry against Iowa State — a 14-yard run on which he damaged his lateral collateral knee ligament. He had been on the field in key situations, blocking for Brooks and picking up blitzes for Hurts. But he no longer got the football, which Riley explained away as just part of the game flow.
Sermon’s “overnight” emergence in Columbus has been equally difficult to explain.
When he got there, he was behind junior Master Teague, who rushed for 789 yards and four touchdowns last season and seemed ready to take over full-time duty after J.K. Dobbins went to the NFL. But after Teague logged a couple of 100-yard games, he sustained an injury in the conference championship game. That allowed Sermon to flourish at the same time he was becoming truly comfortable.
“I think there was a couple things at play,” Day said. “One, he didn't have the lead-up like a normal running back would have going into the season because of the lack of the preseason. Came in during the summer, didn't have that lead-up like he typically would. And then he was coming off of the injury.
“And then also our run game is a little different than what he was used to. He was also splitting time with Master. So when he started to get more at-bats, he started to get more runs, got into a rhythm of the game, and I think you're seeing the best version of Trey.”
Trey Sermon breaks away
Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch-Imagn Content Services, LLC
Said Sermon, “I just wanted to be able to contribute more and just make the most of my opportunities. I mean, I feel like before, I just wasn't playing my best. I mean, it just kind of started in practice. I just started practicing a lot harder than I was, just trying to just do whatever I can to just help myself improve.”
While things weren’t exactly happening for him early at Ohio State, Day said Sermon embraced the role of being a good soldier and good teammate.
“The best part about Trey is when all that was going on, he never came into my office, never complained, never said ‘I need more carries,’ none of that stuff. Just kept his mouth shut and kept going to work. I think that is the best part of this whole story, is he just kept going every single day to work and never said anything about it, and how he's playing at a high, high level.
“It's really remarkable what he's done. Over 500 yards in two of the biggest games of the year, and he has a chance to go down in Ohio State history as one of the best runs ever if he can have another performance in this game like he did the last two.”
In seven games as a Buckeye, Sermon has run 115 times for 868 yards, an average of 7.5 per carry, and scored four touchdowns. In his three games since taking over as the featured back, he’s averaging 9.1 yards per carry.
Sermon bailing on Oklahoma left a bad taste in the mouth of a lot of OU fans — especially during the season, when Brooks opted out and Rhamondre Stevenson remained under NCAA suspension. If Sermon had stayed in Norman, the Sooners might be undefeated and it would be Oklahoma, perhaps, not Ohio State, in the playoff.
It was easy to deride Sermon’s decision to leave OU when the Big Ten Conference announced it wouldn’t even play football in 2020. But the league changed its mind, then changed its rules to let Ohio State into the title game, then watched in awe as Sermon became a national phenomenon.
Sometimes things happen for a reason, and for Sermon, leaving OU was exactly what his career needed. His family’s almost incomprehensible struggles have been well documented — his mother came from an abusive home, endured spousal violence that ended with the murder of her first son and has put herself through school while raising her kids and even launched a foundation that helps battered women — so getting his opportunity to shine outside of Norman was something he felt was best for both himself and his family.
“What an amazing story, a special young man,” Day said. “We'll see what happens. But no, to say I knew he'd be doing this right now, no, this has been a pleasant surprise. But, couldn't happen to a better guy. He's done a great job in a short period of time. The players on his team really appreciate who he is, and I'm happy for him.”
