Samaje Perine came into this season under the radar and, after 11 games, he made it clear through interviews that it's exactly where he is most comfortable.
The true freshman from Pflugerville, Texas, has gathered 1,428 yards, the most by an OU back since 2010, and 19 touchdowns, the most ever by a freshman at Oklahoma.
Combined with those eye-popping statistics, it is what the soft-spoken young man accomplished on a miserably rainy November afternoon in Norman that will keep him from being under the radar for a long time to come.
“It was a tough day,” head coach Bob Stoops said of the pouring rain and dropping temperatures that forced some fans to the exits after just one quarter, “one of the worst that I remember playing in out here.”
The bad weather delayed the start of the game by an hour and a half. It also provided conditions that made throwing the ball a nearly impossible task. Kansas managed 84 yards through the air, and the Sooners just 39. That meant a heavy dose of the ground game was in store.
Sophomore Keith Ford got the start at running back for Oklahoma, and it was not a questionable move. Ford had established himself as the most well-rounded of OU’s three backs before he went down with an ankle injury early in the season. Perine stepped in as the Sooners’ go-to guy in the meantime, but a healthy Ford was back at the top of the depth chart.
Ford gained nine yards, and Oklahoma went three-and-out on its first drive. On their second offensive possession, the Sooners turned to Perine. The man of many nicknames, who had developed a reputation for bowling men over and wearing down defenses, flashed some speed on his first carry. His big offensive line opened a hole on the left side and Perine dashed through it, outrunning everybody else for 49 yards and his first touchdown of the afternoon.
That first run became somewhat of a blueprint for the rest of the afternoon. Touchdown runs of 33, 34, 66 and 27 yards would follow as Perine ran through the opposing defense to a level never before reached in college football. He finished the afternoon with 427 yards, 19 more than any who came before. Perine galloped through the rain and into the record books.
“I just did whatever I had to do to help my team,” the humble 18-year-old said after the game. “I’m not really feeling special in any type of way. I just look at it as doing what I have to do under certain conditions to just help my team win.”
Making things interesting
It is hard to remember an OU home game in recent years that was less anticipated than the matchup with Kansas on Saturday. The Sooners had fallen a long way from the playoff hopes that surrounded the start of their season, and after a close game against a bad Texas Tech team the week before, it was not clear whether they had hit the ground yet.
Stoops had fielded questions for two weeks about what was wrong with the program and if he was on his way out. Columnists took up the issue, espousing their opinions on whether or not the head coach’s time at the helm had run its course.
Combine Oklahoma’s underachieving season with the matchup against an underwhelming Kansas team and the poor weather forecast, and the result was a mostly apathetic fanbase. The crowd at kickoff was bigger than what many had predicted, but there were plenty of good seats still available. Patches of silver dotted the crimson and cream as empty bleachers shone through.
Those who did show up were energetic even in the downpour and they were treated to a historic performance. At halftime, Perine already had 222 yards, the most ever by a Sooner in one half of play, and there was a noticeable buzz around the stadium. When Oklahoma’s first offensive snap of the second half resulted in the longest rush of Perine’s promising career, his 66-yard touchdown, it became clear just how special the day might be.
By the end of the third quarter he was 30 yards away from the record, and the tension in the crowd was palpable. Fans did the math in the stands. Cheers erupted every time number 32 lined up in the backfield. The consensus from coaches and players was that the countdown was taking place on the sidelines as well, particularly from a jovial offensive line that takes all the credit Perine gives them for his record-breaking.
“We started counting after he broke that first run,” junior center Ty Darlington said. “We were saying 120. I told (running backs coach Cale Gundy) 120. And then it was 68, then it was 35, then 30, and we were just counting down. We definitely were completely aware of what was going on.”
“We weren’t coming off the field until we got it,” senior tackle Daryl Williams added.
The moment finally came with 12:26 left in the game. On second down the hand-off came. Perine followed his blocks to the right, made a man miss from behind, hop-skipped his way out of the grasp of two would-be tacklers and took his final carry for 42 yards. As he was dragged down at the Kansas 34 yard line, the entire stadium erupted.
Chants of “Perine, Perine, Perine” echoed down from the fans who had stuck around through the pouring rain as his teammates surrounded him and pushed him back out onto the field for a curtain call.
Perine, the freshman who said he didn’t feel special after the game, held a football in one hand and put one finger up on the other as senior tackle Tyrus Thompson managed to lift all 243 pounds of him into the air.
“Yeah, I picked him up,” the big offensive lineman said, “I’ve got a little bit of muscle.”
Into the spotlight
The person least interested in Perine’s record breaking performance on Saturday was undoubtedly Perine himself. One story in particular was told over and over after the game.
“We were in the third quarter, and we were about to go out,” Gundy said, “and he and I were sitting there and the players were saying, ‘Come on, Samaje, you need 80 more yards,’ or whatever, and he looked to me and says, ‘Coach, I’m not here for that. It’s not that big a deal to me. I just want to play the next play.’ I mean, you’re looking for stories about somebody who’s a neat kid, I mean he’s pretty good.”
Everything about the post-game press conference reinforced the idea that Perine is a humble guy that would prefer to fly under the radar. The offensive line interviewed as a team and spewed praises of the young running back. They laughed and were raucous and had plenty to say about the pride they took in the performance of that day, and rightfully so.
Perine however, took center stage. Surrounded by every reporter in the room, the newly crowned single-game rushing champion spoke so softly that a microphone in the second row may not have picked him up. The question that stumped him most centered around how he would handle the national attention he was sure to receive.
“You know, I honestly do not know,” he said. “I’m just going to give credit where it’s due, and that’s obviously to the other 10 guys on the field with me. Just stay in my room and keep as quiet as possible and if someone says, 'Great game,' I’ll say, 'Thank you,' and just keep walking.”
Now that the opportunity to stay away from the spotlight is mostly gone, Perine was asked if he would check himself out on ESPN that night. He said he had other celebration plans.
“I’m probably going to watch cartoons.”
While some kids dream of seeing themselves on SportsCenter, Perine would rather watch Scooby-Doo. Even after putting together one of the greatest individual performances in the history of a storied program and turning an unanticipated, dreary Saturday afternoon into one that will be remembered for a long time, that’s just the way he is.
