Top 10 of 2014 – No. 1: Perine runs and runs and runs

Published by OSN at December 31, 2014

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Oklahoma's Semaje Perine. Photo courtesy SoonerSports.com

It is difficult to imagine a more impressive single-game performance in 2014, or in recent years for that matter, than that of Semaje Perine against Kansas on Nov. 22.

Perine had been running over opponents all season long. When it came to Jayhawks, he just didn’t seem to stop.

That is, not until he had set a new FBS rushing record of 427 yards.

In setting the new record, he broke one that was just seven days old. Melvin Gordon, a junior from Wisconsin, became only the second FBS player to cross the 400-yard mark in a single on Nov. 15. He rushed for 408 yards and he surpassed LaDanian Tomlinson’s 15-year-old record by two yards. In that game against Nebraska, Gordon scored four touchdowns.

But beside his name in Wikipedia it currently reads, “he briefly held the NCAA Division I FBS single game rushing yardage record.” [emphasis added]

Perine, a true freshman, had 222 yards on the ground by halftime, in a rain-soaked game which had been delayed in starting an hour and a half because of lightning.

He had five rushing touchdowns – of 49, 33, 34, 66 and 27 yards. Throw in a 19-yard reception and that gave him 446 all-purpose yards.

To give some perspective, Perine rushed for nearly a quarter of a mile against the Jayhawks. He had eight carries of 20-plus yards.

Perine finished the season with 1,745 yards rushing, fifth on the Sooners’ single-season list behind Adrian Peterson (1,925), Quentin Griffin (1,884), Billy Sims (1,762) and Greg Pruitt (1,760).

Top 10 of 2014 – No. 1: Perine runs and runs and runs

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