OU’s Perine breaks week-old mark
NORMAN, Okla. — As Samaje Perine churned up the yards, the rain-soaked crowd at half-filled Memorial Stadium chanted his name.
The Oklahoma true freshman rewarded those who braved the elements with history. He set a major college record by running for 427 yards, scoring five touchdowns to lead the No. 21 Sooners (8-3, 5-3) over Kansas (3-8, 1-7) 44-7.
“It’s still surreal,” Perine said. “I just looked at it as doing what I had to do to help my team. I’m not really feeling special in any type of way.”
A week after Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon set the mark by rushing for 408 yards against Nebraska, Perine ran past him. He broke the 7-day-old record on his 34th and final carry, a 42-yard run with 12:16 left in the fourth quarter.
His teammates put him on their shoulders after his final run, one of the few times he was controlled by anyone all day.
Perine, 5-11, 243 pounds, bounced off would-be tacklers throughout, then accelerated and used surprising breakaway speed to finish runs. He got off a fast start, running for a 49-yard TD on his first carry. He added TD runs of 33 and 34 yards in the second quarter and scored on runs of 66 and 27 yards in the third.
Perine’s first-half total of 222 yards was the best half by any player in Oklahoma history, and his 205 yards in the second half was the fourth-best.
In a game that started 90 minutes late because of lightning, Perine shattered the school rushing record of 294 yards set by Greg Pruitt in 1971.