Oklahoma RB Eric Gray Confident in Offense Despite Running Back Losses
The Oklahoma running back room has been ravaged this offseason by a plethora of unpredictable events that now seats the No. 2-ranked Sooners with just two scholarship running backs ahead of Saturday’s season opener.
Seth McGowan was dismissed from the team back in the spring due to his alleged involvement in an armed robbery. Mikey Henderson was later removed from the team for being included in the same alleged crime.
Marcus Major was ruled ineligible for the season due to academic reasons earlier in the month of August and now, just this week, Tre Bradford reentered the transfer portal after coming over from LSU this summer.
“It’s just been one of those years and it’s kind of all hit that one group,” head coach Lincoln Riley said Tuesday. “It went from being maybe the deepest position on the team to honestly taking a lot of unexpected hits. That’s part of it.”
Despite the tremendous amount of loss at one position, Riley expressed a confidence that walk-ons Jaden Knowles and Todd Hudson would be able to shoulder the load needed for the Sooners to win.
“Of any position group on the team, this was probably the most built to weather it,” Riley said. “I guess in some ways we’re lucky it did come with this group. We still have two very good, experienced players there. And been really impressed with Jaden Knowles and Todd Hudson.”
Junior transfer running back Eric Gray and redshirt junior Kennedy Brooks will certainly have to shoulder a large load this season being the only two scholarship players at the position. Something Gray says they will be ready to do.
Eric Gray
Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports
“You definitely have to step it up,” Gray said. “You have to be on your toes. You have to go harder in practice. You know you've got to take care of your body after practice. You've got to make sure that when you're in, you've got to do what you're supposed to do. Me and Kennedy have to make sure that we're on our toes, we're not missing a beat.”
“For me, it's always been — you know when you're young, you always want to play a lot. You want to be out there a lot. So for me, you've got to go out there — you've got to play. It's on you to go out there and play. I'm fortunate to have three other guys behind me, three other guys with me, to be able to go out there and play. You have to go out there and play and let loose and just have fun. You leave that for the coaches to worry about.”
While Gray and Brooks will surely see more carries than perhaps originally planned with the slimmed down running back room, it isn’t all on them to pick up the slack.
Something Oklahoma isn’t short on is skill players on the outside that can make things happen and help alleviate the pressure from the thin running back spot. Underneath passes, screens and the like could be the Sooners’ saving grace in a season where they can’t afford injuries at a position that tends to see some.
“Coach Riley's a mastermind,” Gray said. “You've seen so much of what he's done in the past with H-backs, with Ys, moving people in the backfield, a lot of window dressing, things like that. You've seen what he can do, so I'm sure he's going to mix it up and, like you said, you can get 90 plays but you can mix it all around so it's not just on the backs.”
How Oklahoma finds a way to manage an offense that only has two scholarship running backs is going to be fascinating to watch unfold and is undoubtedly one of the top storylines heading into the 2021 season.
While there are definite question marks, the certainties are strong with what Gray and Brooks bring to the table and what Riley is as an offensive coach. Now it is just a matter of remaining healthy for the two backs and executing on the field.
“The spring game was amazing,” Gray said. “Being able to play in front of those fans was amazing and now you get to play in front of everyone, even more fans. Home opener at home, season opener at home. It's going to be a great feeling.
“I'm very excited to put on the uniform again, take the little concussion thing off the helmet and just go out there, let loose and just really have fun.”
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