Sermon proves capable of shouldering the load

— Trey Sermon, with a bag of gear in both hands, walked out of the visitor’s locker room at Jones AT&T Stadium on Saturday night, turned right and looked up a long ramp to where Oklahoma’s team bus was parked.

Sermon playfully asked an OU staffer if he had to carry his bags to the top. They had gotten heavier after carrying the ball 26 times for 206 yards in Oklahoma’s 51-46 win at Texas Tech.

“They definitely are,” he said through a grin.

Sermon had a career day in rushing attempts, yards and touchdowns Saturday. He scored three times, with touchdown runs of 20 and 30 yards in the fourth quarter.

Sermon proved to be more than just a power back. The 6-foot, 224-pound sophomore wove his way through Red Raider defenders, stiff arming several who obstructed his path.

But the weight of those bags is nothing compared to the load that awaits Sermon in the season’s final weeks.

“It’s something I can definitely handle,” he said.

Oklahoma has just three healthy scholarship running backs: Sermon, redshirt freshman Kennedy Brooks and true freshman T.J. Pledger.

Former starter Rodney Anderson suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 and has since declared for the NFL Draft.

Then Wednesday at practice, senior running back Marcelias Sutton broke his leg.

As Sermon described it, Sutton bounced a run outside, got tackled high and someone fell backward on him as his leg got stuck in the ground.

Sermon visited Sutton in the hospital before the Sooners traveled to Lubbock.

“He just told me to play my game,” Sermon said. “I just try to do it for him.”

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said he’s known Sutton since his sophomore year at James Kenan High School in rural North Carolina.

“And for that kid to be here, getting ready to get his degree, do all he’s done is a miracle,” Riley said. “He’s a great kid. It killed the team.”

Sutton had 29 carries for 152 yards and two touchdowns this season. He was the third-team running back behind Sermon and Brooks.

The Sooners, who entered the season with five capable running backs, now lack depth in that group. But depth problems are nullified when Sermon runs like he did Saturday.

Sooner linebacker Curtis Bolton shook his head when telling of how Sermon bounced off Texas Tech defensive linemen and shoved others to the turf.

“That man’s a monster,” Bolton said. “Good luck tackling him.”