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Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine Made College Football History 10 Years Ago Today

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kyle Wood | Last updated Nov 22, 2024 4:27 AM ET

Oklahoma’s inaugural season in the SEC hasn’t gone according to plan, but Sooners fans can reflect on better days on the 10-year anniversary of Samaje Perine’s record-setting rushing performance.

On Nov. 22, 2014, a crowd of 84,908 at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, witnessed major college football history. Oklahoma running back Samaje Perine run for an FBS record 427 yards against the Kansas Jayhawks in a 44-7 rout. Perine toted the ball 34 times, good for 12.6 per carry, and finished with five touchdowns. The Sooners’ true freshman running back outgained KU from scrimmage, 446-109, as he also led OU in receiving with 19 yards on a rainy Oklahoma afternoon.

“It’s still surreal,” Perine told reporters afterward. “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.”

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A week earlier, Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon had broken the 15-year-old record of 406 rushing yards in a single game, set by TCU’s LaDainian Tomlinson against UTEP on Nov. 19, 1999. Gordon went for 408 on the ground in a 59-24 win against Nebraska. That high-water mark stood for only seven days before Perine topped it.

But Perine’s record remains intact today, 10 years later.

Then-Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops confirmed he kept Perine in the game once it became clear he was closing in on the record.

“We were thinking about resting him, and then someone said he only needs 35 more yards,” Stoops said after the game, according to the Associated Press. “And you know, that’s just too close not to do it, and there’s too much time left in the game.”

Perine accounted for roughly a quarter of his season-long rushing total against the Jayhawks. He led the FBS with 1,713 yards that season on his way to All-America honors as Oklahoma finished 8-5. The week before he broke the record, Perine ran for 213 yards in a 42-30 win at Texas Tech — he more than doubled that against KU.

In the decade since that historic game, no FBS player has even come close to Perine’s record as the sport has shifted further toward passing. As for Perine, he’s still in the NFL, contributing to the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Chiefs’ three-peat quest.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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