How DeMarco Murray's Challenge Fueled Oklahoma's Running Backs Saturday

One of Oklahoma’s bright spots this season has been the team’s ability to run the football. 

Even so, OU running backs coach DeMarco Murray challenged the running back room to take it a step further on Saturday.

“DeMarco came in on Sunday and kind of challenged the whole room," senior running back Eric Gray said. "He kind of challenged us and said that we got to play better. We got to make people miss in space. We got to score touchdowns, we got to play better.”

The Sooners had a massive offensive day, racking up 701 total yards in a 52-42 win against Kansas. The biggest reason for Jeff Lebby’s offense finding success was establishing the ground game early and letting Gray and Jovantae Barnes finish the job.

“When they come down thinking we're gonna run, you can throw it over their head,” Gray said. “When they're backing up thinking we’re gonna throw, you can run it down. So it just keeps the defense guessing. It allows us and allows Lebby to sit back there and really just pick any plays he wants to execute.”

After recording three 100-yard outings on the year, he took it a step further on Saturday. Gray rushed for 176 yards against the Jayhawks, his most as a Sooner.

Last season, Gray finished the year with 412 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 78 carries. Through seven games in 2022, the senior has recorded 695 yards and five touchdowns rushing, averaging 7.2 yards per carry.

Barnes got in on the action, too, churning out 69 yards and two touchdowns. While his average was a mere 3.3 yards per rush, he was trusted with a lot of short yardage duty near the sticks and the goal line. 

Marcus Major missed OU's contest against TCU, and Barnes took advantage by posting his first 100-yard performance at Oklahoma. 

Since Major's return, Barnes got handed more carries against Texas and Kansas, and the true freshman has now rushed for 316 yards and four touchdowns during the first half of the fall.

Murray’s trust in the running back room was clear over the off-season and evident during Oklahoma’s first six games. Even when the offense was struggling, the running backs seemed to finish with strong numbers. The Sooners featured a 100-yard rusher in both of the early conference losses while Gray still churned out 5.4 yards per carry in the demoralizing loss to Texas.

Murray’s challenge to take over the game on Saturday was clear, though. Oklahoma’s offense has been inconsistent, and the running backs can help solve that problem by finishing drives and putting the ball in the end zone. Saturday, that’s exactly what happened.

“I ultimately think that all of our guys in the room stepped up to that challenge this week in practice,” Gray said. “DeMarco talked about this as our best week of practice, as a running back room and I think it showed today.”

Gray and Barnes finding success on the ground opens up the field for Dillon Gabriel and the passing game, and also allows the defense to play complementary football. It's no coincidence that Oklahoma's best offensive output of the season came with Gabriel back in the lineup and the Sooners' dominating the line of scrimmage. 245-yards on the ground definitely seems to be a winning formula.

After the bye week, Oklahoma’s run game will be even more important. The Sooners travel to Ames to take on an Iowa State team allowing just 105.3 rushing yards per game and 3.3 yards per carry.

Whatever Murray’s call to action was last week, the Sooners desperately need it for the rest of the season.

“It's bittersweet because you want to keep going, keep that momentum going,” Gray said. “But you also know that we got guys that may be banged up that may need this week to just recover. So it was just for us, we got to do the same thing we did this week. We got to do it again next week and then do it again for Iowa State.”