NORMAN, Okla. — Coming back from Oklahoma‘s win over Texas Tech a week before, Sooners running back coach Cale Gundy heard about the NCAA single-game rushing mark of 408 yards set byWisconsin‘s Melvin Gordon.
“I can remember telling somebody on the bus that that will probably never be broken again,” Gundy said. “Those were my exact words.”
How wrong he was.
Gundy’s true freshman phenom, Samaje Perine, broke the record, running for 427 yards and five touchdowns on 34 carries as the No. 21 Sooners blew out Kansas on an otherwise dreary day at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
Perine’s performance rewarded the fans who waited through a nearly two-hour rain delay and heavy rain throughout the game.
Perine broke the record with a 42-yard run early in the fourth quarter and left the game as chants of “Pe-rine” thundered through the stadium.
The game was stopped momentarily and the ball Perine used on his record-setting carry was taken out of play as the true freshman running back was mobbed by his teammates near the sideline.
“He is such a humble guy in everything that he does,” Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. “It’s fun to get it with a guy like that, but they all know that all of those guys out there with him have a hand in it. They all take pride in it.”
Perine started the season as the Sooners’ fourth running back, behind incumbents Keith Ford and Alex Ross, and five-star Joe Mixon.
But Mixon was suspended for the season before practice began and Perine quickly overtook Ford and Ross as Oklahoma‘s most dominant rusher.
Saturday’s performance was Perine’s third 200-plus yard rushing performance and his second in as many games.
This one, though, was different.
In Perine’s other big games, he has worn teams down with his physical, punishing running style. AgainstKansas, he was rarely touched, with all of his touchdowns coming from 27 or more yards.
“It was unusual,” Perine said. “I will say that. Being untouched isn’t something that I’m used to and I’m still adjusting to it. I think that I’m not the best runner in the open field.
“I have a little bit of speed but not too much. I would much rather find contact, but if I see a hole, I’m going to try my best to get what I can out of it.”
Perine started breaking records early, tying Adrian Peterson
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‘s team mark for rushing touchdowns by a freshman on his first carry of the game — a 49-yard touchdown run on Oklahoma‘s second possession.Perine broke that record a little more than a quarter later with a 33-yard touchdown run and added a 34-yard touchdown run later in the second quarter.
Kansas could not stop Perine after the half either as he went untouched for a 66-yard touchdown on his first carry of the second half.
Perine broke the Oklahoma single-game rushing mark on his first carry of the second half, an eight-yard run, and quickly got to work closing in on Gordon’s short-lived mark.
After three quarters, Perine had tied Iowa State’s Troy Davis for the Big 12 single-game rushing record with 378 yards.
A little before that was when Oklahoma coaches started getting wind of the records, first becoming aware of the Big 12 record and then when Perine was so close after three quarters, Sooners coaches decided to keep him in the game for a shot at Gordon’s mark.
“It’s too close not to do it,” Stoops said after the game.
Kansas interim coach Clint Bowen was blown away by Perine.
“There is not a positive to do with that record for us right now,” Bowen said. “He is 245 pounds and runs fast. He changes direction, had great strength and power and has great vision.
“I don’t think there is anything bad about the kid. He is a special running back, one of the better ones in the conference going back to Ricky Williams and Adrian Peterson and those guys.”
The game started nearly two hours after the scheduled kickoff because of thunderstorms moving through the area.
Heavy rain continued for most of the game, causing the teams to mostly keep the ball on the ground and allowing Perine to put up huge numbers.
Perine’s big day helped redshirt freshman quarterback Cody Thomas pick up his second win as a starter and first at home.
Thomas made his first career start a week earlier at Texas Tech after starter Trevor Knight sustained a neck injury the week before against Baylor.
Kansas dropped to 1-6 under Bowen.