Recruiting ROI, No. 5: Samaje Perine
Every Tuesday and Thursday, SI Sooners unveils a new installment in the Recruiting ROI series. Over the course of 10 weeks, the series examines 20 Sooners over the last 20 years who dramatically exceeded expectations in the crimson and cream.
If a class of 2014 running back would leave Oklahoma as the school's all-time leading rusher, it was going to be Joe Mixon.
It had to be, right?
Mixon was the top running back recruit in the nation, and Oklahoma's top recruit in the 2014 class. He was a can't-miss prospect, a five-star all-purpose back who could dominate as a rusher and receiver. Mixon had all the necessary tools to be a Heisman contender for the Sooners.
But in that 2014 signing class, Oklahoma also added a 5-foot-11, 233-pound bowling ball of a back from Pflugerville, TX. The kid wasn't exactly fleet of foot, and looked more like a fullback than a feature back.
But once his three years in Norman came to an end, he'd not only established himself as the most productive back of his class, but the most productive back in school history.
Not a single Sooner - not Billy Vessels, not Steve Owens, not Billy Sims, not Joe Washington, not Adrian Peterson, not DeMarco Murray - has ever rushed for as many yards in the crimson and cream as Samaje Perine.
How on earth can that sentence be true?
Perine came to Oklahoma as a four-star recruit, but carried just eight FBS offers. He chose the Sooners over Alabama, Baylor, and a handful of other programs, and committed before the end of his junior year. Oklahoma later brought in Mixon as well, but that didn't deter Perine. He earned immediate playing time as a true freshman in 2014, rushing for 77 yards and a touchdown in his first collegiate game against Louisiana Tech.
Perine's coming-out party came three weeks later against West Virginia, as he exploded for 242 yards and four touchdowns in Morgantown. However, the Sooners would lose three of their next five games, and Perine's production flatlined. He cracked 100 yards just once over the five-game span.
Perine broke out of his productive slump on November 15 against Texas Tech, carrying 25 times for 213 yards and three scores. He didn't earn headlines that day, though, as Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon set an FBS record by rushing for 408 yards in a win over Nebraska. LaDainian Tomlinson had long held the former standard with his 406 yards in 1999.
But after breaking a mark that had stood for 15 years, Gordon would have his name written in the record books for all of a week.
Come November 22, Oklahoma hosted Kansas on a sopping wet day. Rain fell in droves throughout the game, and Sooner quarterback Cody Thomas completed just 3 of 14 passes. But OU wouldn't need any semblance of an aerial assault to stomp the Jayhawks.
Keith Ford drew the start in the Sooner backfield, but after Oklahoma went three-and-out to open the game, Perine trotted out for the second series. He promptly took his first carry of the game for a 49-yard touchdown, and that opened the floodgates. The stocky freshman running back was on his way to a historic performance.
Perine would go on to score four more times, on runs of 33, 34, 66, and 27 yards. As the fourth quarter began, he'd already accumulated a gaudy 368 yards on 32 carries.
He opened Oklahoma's first drive of the fourth period with a 7-yard rush. On his next carry, Perine charged through a demoralized Jayhawk defense, breaking into the open field and the history books. A 42-yard scamper brought him to 427 rushing yards on 34 carries and five touchdowns.
With 12:02 left on the game clock, a shot at 500 yards appeared well within Perine's grasp. But Bob Stoops called a timeout and removed Perine from the game, allowing him to enjoy congratulations from his teammates and thunderous applause from the Sooner faithful in attendance.
Perine's mark of 427 yards still stands today, and might not be seriously challenged for decades. He'd finish the 2014 season with 1,713 yards and 21 touchdowns. Over the next two years, Perine fought through a variety of nagging injuries, but still managed to top 1,000 yards in both campaigns (1,349 yards in 2015 and 1,060 in 2016).
By the end of his junior season, he'd come within striking distance of Billy Sims' career rushing record at Oklahoma. He went into the 2017 Sugar Bowl needing 83 yards to eclipse Sims' mark. On his second-to-last carry of the contest, Perine rumbled for a 15-yard gain, giving him 86 yards on the day and 4,122 for his career.
Perine carries for 15 yards to break Billy Sims' school rushing record in the 2017 Sugar Bowl against Auburn.
Chuck Cook
And just like that, Samaje Perine had become the most prolific back in Sooner history. In what would prove to be his final collegiate game, Oklahoma defeated Auburn 35-19.
Perine decided to forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft, and ended up a fourth-round draft pick of the Washington Redskins. He's bounced around quite a bit over three professional seasons, most recently spending time on the Miami Dolphins' practice squad. He's currently on the Cincinnati Bengals' roster, alongside former Oklahoma teammates Mixon and Rodney Anderson.
Perine was never the biggest, the fastest, or the most athletic running back. But he ran with power, devotion, and flair, and was as dominant a straight-ahead rusher as the college game has ever seen. Even if Perine's NFL career fizzles out, Sooner Nation will still watch replays of that rain-soaked 2014 game against Kansas for years to come. And given the trajectory of offense across college football, Perine's school and FBS records could stand for a very, very long time.
In the age of the scatback and spread offense, Samaje Perine championed a downhill, old-fashioned, hard-nosed running style. And as he proved over his time in Norman, that style is never too archaic to be effective.
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