Brooks keeps proving his value to OU
RB moves up Sooners’ career rushing chart
NORMAN — In the second quarter of Saturday’s too-close-for-comfort win over Tulane, OU running back Kennedy Brooks reminded everyone just how good he was.
With the game tied early in the quarter, the Sooners were facing fourthand-2 and coach Lincoln Riley drew up a play for Brooks.
Many backs could’ve picked up the first down, thanks to the blocking from Anton Harrison and Marquis Hayes.
Much fewer would’ve been able to do what Brooks did, which is turn that first down into a 32-yard carry. His speed got him into the second level of the Green Wave defense. His power helped him drag Tulane safety Larry Brooks about 10 yards before finally coming down to the Owen Field grass.
“You have trust in him even though he wasn’t here last year,” Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler said. “He knows how this thing goes. He’s been in a lot of games like this. He carries the ball well at the end, made a lot of stuff where he should have been tackled and got out of it and got positive yards out of it.
“We have to be better around him. We have to trust in him, and he did a good job in converting those first downs. He played well today.”
On the play after the long run, Brooks had a 5-yard carry to the 3, keeping his balance as he fought through tackles to get the Sooners on the doorstep of the end zone.
Two plays later, Rattler audibled to line up under center, with Brooks lined up all the way back at the 8.
Linebacker Marvin Moody hardly had a chance as Brooks took that forward momentum into the end zone for his first touchdown of the season.
With his 14-carry, 87-yard performance against Tulane, Brooks moved into 24th in Sooners history for career rushing, passing Billy Vessels. If he stays healthy, he figures to move up that list significantly this season.
Brooks has been perpetually
overlooked during his Sooners career.
In 2018, it was unclear how much Brooks would play as part of a crowded backfield with Trey Sermon, Rodney Anderson, Marcelius Sutton and T.J. Pledger along with the ultimate running quarterback, Kyler Murray.
But when Anderson went down with an early-season injury, Brooks emerged to team with Sermon, leading the Sooners with 1,056 yards, averaging 8.9 yards per carry and scoring 12 touchdowns.
The next season, Jalen Hurts gave the Sooners a tough, physical running option at quarterback and Brooks’ usage sagged early, with just 25 carries through the first four games.
But as the season went on, Brooks got the ball more and more, averaging nearly 18 carries per game over the final six games of the season.
He finished with 1,011 yards and six touchdowns on 155 carries, an average of 6.5 yards per carry.
Then after opting out last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brooks was once again a bit overlooked coming into this season.
Not playing last season and the addition of versatile Tennessee transfer Eric Gray put Brooks on the backburner a bit, though his importance is sky-high with Brooks and Gray being the only two scholarship running backs available for the Sooners this season.
The Sooners have lost just four games with Brooks dressed out.
In those games, Brooks has had an average of just 5.5 carries per game. He had more than six carries in only one of those — the 2019 Peach Bowl loss to LSU.
When Brooks gets the ball, the Sooners win.
Gray figures to be a big part of OU’s offense the rest of the way, but Brooks could be the bigger key for how far these Sooners can go.