Couple Quick Points Of Clarification On Perine’s Record
Posted on: November 23, 2014
Image via Sooner Sports
As many are wont to do, not more than 24 hours after Oklahoma’s true freshman running back, Samaje Perine, broke the NCAA single-game rushing record, I’m already reading a plethora of #HotSportsTakes trying to diminish his performance. So I wanted to take a minute and quickly address a couple things.
Point No. 1 – “Yeah, well, Melvin Gordon’s 408-yard day was more impressive because he only needed three quarters!”
See, here’s the thing. Perine also put up his 427 yards in the equivalent of what amounts to three quarters.
Perine didn’t actually start on Saturday, Keith Ford did. And Perine also wasn’t a part of OU’s opening three-and-out drive. In fact, he didn’t actually see the field until OU’s following drive, started with 11:33 remaining in the first quarter. (At which point promptly took his first carry of the game 49 yards to the house, but I don’t want to get off track).
Which amounts to 3:27 of game time he was not on the field for in the first quarter. We’ll come back to that number.
We fast forward to the fourth quarter and Perine makes this record-setting run on what will be his final carry of the day with the clock showing 12:16 remaining in the game. Which amounts to 2:44 of game time he was on the field for in the fourth quarter.
And while I’m not math wizard, last time I checked 2:44 is less than 3:27. So the amount of time he did play in the fourth quarter being less than the time he missed in the first, would mean he actually put up his 427 yards in technically just under three full quarters.
Point No. 2 – “Yeah, well, Melvin Gordon would have rushed for 1,000 yards against that garbage KU defense.”
Finally saw Okla highlights. Melvin Gordon would have rushed for 1k yds against that garbage KU defense.
— Teddy Greenstein (@TeddyGreenstein) November 23, 2014
This one is probably my favorite. I’ll explain why.
I’m not going to sit here and try to convince you Kansas is some defensive juggernaut of a football team. They’ve actually been pretty decent on that side of the ball in Big 12 play, but it’s still Kansas.
That said, do you know where the Jayhawks ranked defending the run coming into the game on Saturday?
No. 84 nationally.
You know where Nebraska, the defense that Gordon put up his previously record-setting 408 yards against, is currently when it comes to defending to run?
No. 83 nationally.
Again, I’m no math expert but those are pretty close to even, right?
—
Look, I’m not trying to tell you Samaje Perine is a better running back than Melvin Gordon. I’m not trying to tell you that Perine’s day was any more OR less impressive than what Gordon did one week ago. They were both incredibly impressive….obviously.
All I am saying is if you want to come piss on Perine’s parade, have your facts straight. Well, that, or just shut up and appreciate the fact we all got to witness CFB history on consecutive weekends and that’s pretty cool.
82 Comments
Nicely stated!!!
BOOM!
Thank you Jordan! Good solid work here, thank you for proving the point.
The best one I’ve seen so far is ” It took Perine twice as many quarters to break Gordon’s record”. Thought y’all might get a kick out of that one! If I find it again I’ll try to post a screen shot.
So someone thinks we play six quarter games here?
I asked him the same question, didn’t get a response.
People are missing the most important point IMHO. He is a TRUE FRESHMAN. In other words, last year about a time like now, this kid was playing high school football.
Marinate on that for a moment.
I knew their playing time was comparable, I didn’t realize Nebraska’s run defense was that bad. Bottom line, we all seen it happen and it was an amazing performance regardless of what the haters want to say about it.
It’s funny that people want to down play 427 yards. If it was so easy then wouldn’t every “good” running back be able to do it. No it’s just a special moment and I wouldn’t expect anything less than for national guys to find some negative out of that performance.
Yup. Plenty of games over the years with great rushing offenses and great backs going against not so great defenses, without seeing this.
If it was truly that easy then when one of those top-5 teams play against those “weak” out-of-conference teams (at least a couple of teams come to mind), their awesome RBs should each be stacking up 400+ yards per game.
Great stuff Jordan….. But the fact he is true freshman makes even more of a crazy day…. I was getting sick of people saying 3 qtrs bull crap yesterday…. I wish we could play them in a bowl game so our front seven could lock up Gordon…. Our secondary is a mess but rush defense has been solid all year…
OU vs Whiskey in a bowl?????? I’d love to see that.
I am proud of you Jordan for being positive.
🙂
If you’re comparing the rushing defense rank, you probably need to compare with where Nebraska was before Gordon’s performance trashed their ranking. 🙂 Doesn’t matter, though.
I believe the record is most yards in a game, not most yards in three quarters, highest per carry average, most yardage by a guy with a blue uniform, most yards by a guy with a better O-line or anything else. It’s most yards in a game and on that score, while both those gentlemen are extremely impressive, our guy wins the prize. At least till next week. 🙂
Phenomenal performance, especially when you consider how long the previous record stood before Gordon.
Yeah, I knew that going in but even w/ that concession I don’t think it really takes away from my point. Which wasn’t about whose performance was better, rather they were both fantastic. Fair points tho
I agree, your point that no one should be trying to take away from
Perine’s (and the OU O-line, btw) performance, is absolutely on the money, and not diminished by any other considerations. Nice post.
gracias
The difference was 20 places (but keep reading), yet KU had 21 more carries defended and only 100 more yards. TCU put up 133 yards in 37 attempts (3.7 ypc) against Kansas, whereas they put up 169 yards in 27 attempts (6.3 ypc) vs Minnesota, a Big 10 team for comparison.
But if you want to take away Nebraska’s “pre-Wisky” game stats, then you have to take away Kansas’ stats as well. They played Baylor who ran the ball 52 times for 326 yards (6.3 ypc).
TCU = #27 Rushing offense in the nation
Baylor = #20 Rushing offense in the nation
If stats don’t lie, then there’s the truth…
I totally understand that the quality and type of offenses a team faces, totally affects the ranking. But if you’re just gonna pick a number without going into all the qualifications, I think you probably look at how they each were doing immediately prior to the game in question. If you do, Wisc was facing a Neb. team ranked 16th versus the run, and OU was facing Kansas ranked 84th.
Looking at it that way explains why folks want to argue about which defense was better. The other choice would be to look at where they both are now which would be Neb. at 79th and Kansas at 110th, but that’s not right either because Perine is responsible for Kansas being that low.
The point is, it doesn’t matter, because, as you point out, there are many factors that go into getting that number, and unless you consider all the factors, just looking at the rankings probably doesn’t tell the whole story.
Bottom line is both runners were incredibly impressive, and our guy holds the record.
Well, even if you take the last game you’re not telling the entire story with stats. OU fans know that Kansas is just as good as Nebraska. Both teams are either decent or pretty bad under Pelini. When they’re ranked we realize it’s just a handout for the Big 10. I have no doubt that Nebraska and Kansas would be a toss up if they played tonight. I think most realistic fans would agree.
Not taking away what Gordon did against Nebraska especially since none of that garbage came from him but all of the backs from the big 12 (except Kstate) as well as Cent Michigan, Duke and Se Missouri st had 427 yards?? Something should get pissed on all right but its not Perine’s parade!!! BOOMER!!
Sorry if this isn’t the place for this. Sooner fan here in Maryland and a local player as well as my wife’s nephew has dreamed of playing for the sooners since he was young. His team has won 26 straight games and closing in on there 2nd straight state championship. He is a Maryland commit, Check him out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfrc8nk3ZrY
Wow, what are his stats, Curt? He’s really shifting and his OL opened some nice holes
http://nationalchamps.net/recruiting/2013/FortHill/Johnson/index.htm he has scored 188 points this year with hopefully 2 games to go. school record is 200 points so hes got a shot. I will find his stats for this year but 2014 has been his best. Thanks for the reply.
Patient runner, good vision + wheels = me likey. Wonder if OU would offer if they see his tape???? How are his grades?
Even though the defense has the angle to the sideline, he bursts pass them. Can you spell slot and motion back ala Shepard?What is the 40 time?
Ive been to a few of his games this year and it looks like the defense is running in sand, it really does. his high school has his time at 4.3
Wouldnt that be awesome!! Now how do you get the coaches to see a tape?? LOL. He has a 3.1 gpa right now. Dont get me wrong i hope that juco OU just landed is the next richard sherman but if they offered him i think Ty should get a look. he plays corner on defense and does a great job.
I would suspect you put one in the mail to the OU football offices!?!? Really dunno but it wouldn’t hurt. Better hurry…
427>408… 15 years from now nobody will talk about how many minutes each guy played. It’s all about which number is biggest.
This
I also have a feeling 15 years from now people many, many more people will know the name Samaje Perine.
I had this discussion yesterday evening with a longwhorn pal on facebook. Came to the same conclusions, Jordon! Though, I do wish you had this up yesterday to save me the research time! 😉 Good work, as usual!
Gordon seems like a decent guy though. Took the whole thing in stride…
Thank you for writing this. Really annoying to see that people are trying to take it away from him in a sense. Too bad they can’t just appreciate the amazing feat by both, in back to back weeks.
Slow clapping.
I didn’t hear too many people criticizing LT when he broke the record against an abhorrent UTEP defense.
Even better than his 427 yard performance, which was awsome, is the way Samaje handles himself in his humble way. He gave all the credit to his team mates and coaches. I haven’t seen any young men that are more mature or humble than Samaje. If his work ethic and attitude effect the whole Sooner team, watch out. I can’t wait to see him make his team better by showing them the way.
I bet the O line is going to love all the pizza he’s about to buy them!!!
Who cares what people say about it? He’s #1 now and that’s all that matters.
Anybody just see this?
Bob Przybylo @BPrzybylo 2m2 minutes ago
Lack of “Boom” is over. Just talked w/ NEW #Sooners commit juco CB Will Johnson (@NextLevel_Will). Offered & committed to #OU today
I’ve pointed these facts out last night, as well as the fact that Nebraska just got beat by Minnesota, who put up 281 rushing yards against that vaunted Nebraska defense. The same defense that gave up 180 rushing yards to MCNEESE STATE AT HOME…nearly lost.
Sounds like a pretty scary defense, right? I like how Wisky fans claim that Perine had these gaping holes that made it easy for him to get big runs. I guess they missed the fact that the majority of ALL his yards (this entire season) are yards after contact. They probably missed the fact that he injured 2 defenders yesterday and 4 the game before?
It’s cool though, because the easiest rebuttal is this: It only took Perine a year to reach a 427 yard game. Why hasn’t Grandpa Gordon gotten past 408 yet?
Great post.
People are going to see it the way they want to see it. I think that Gordon’s achievement is just as impressive and should be celebrated – perhaps it was because his record was so quickly eclipsed that some of the detractors are being so dismissive of Perine’s efforts.
It seems like at the heart of the issue is that some people are not willing to give credit where it is due (perhaps blinded by their own prejudices?) and instead of celebrating the achievement that it was for both Gordon and Perine to break the single-game rushing records, it’s better to sling mud.
I think the 3 points above demonstrate that slant very well…instead of saying that it is difficult to achieve that regardless of the athlete and regardless of the opposing team and that Perine did a really amazing job, people are trying to still somehow elevate Gordon above Perine (as though that was the whole issue all along). I liked Gordon’s response when he heard that Perine had broken his record of all of 1 week, where he expressed disappointment (which pretty much everyone would be given the circumstances), yet still wishes Perine all the best, as it is not an easy feat, and also wishes well of the person to follow after Perine (since most records are eventually broken) (my paraphrase and interpretation).
Maybe the TCU fans should be mad at Whisky fans and say it took him 25 years just to break it. I’m being sarcastic of course.
I could care less who broke the record, that is impressive to see in back to back weeks a rb break the single game rushing record. Some reporters outside of Oklahoma can’t stand what a OU player does or did, they have to criticize them Look at dumbass Lupica, trying to say that Stoops was running up the score on A&M and not even watching it. To all those other reporters they can suck it. Worthless bastards. Not the Brainiacs, they are great.
Silly to hear people put down the accomplishment. Do you know how many good RB’s have gone against really bad defenses in the history of college football? That was an amazing day, glad I was there to see it.
Including when Melvin Gordon went against a really bad Nebraska defense.
Oh yeah, let’s get 2 more facts out there:
1. OU RB owns the NFL single game rushing record.
2. OU RB owns the NCAA single game rushing record.
3. OU RB owns the NFL record for most consecutive 100 yard games to start a season
There is sour milk in Wisconsin…
Don’t you mean sour cheese?
And he had only five carries against Baylor.
Five
WTF is wrong with Josh Heupel?????
Rhetorical question 😉
JH said Thomas has to play better.
JFH needs to worry about his inept play-calling before he starts criticizing others.
I agree. I wanted to see if anyone else had a comment. Although Landry Jones had his issues, remember plays like bubble screens, swing passes to the rb? Murray up and out, These type of passes opened up deeper throws. I don’t understand JH playbook this year. I think the read option has really set him back. All he has is a deep pass to Shepard. Why can’t we run heavy and throw some short passes giving us 2 and 5? 3 and 2 etc…
Also been seeing “he did it on less carries!” Okay. Cool. That probably has more to do with field position than anything else. The bottom line is that both guys had amazing days. I’m sure the next guy that comes along will stay in as long as it takes to break the record. You know the old saying about records….
Preaching to the choir, JE, but preach it all the same. The only thing the media is better at than hype is tearing down someone or some thing. And there will always be detractors. Just another unfortunate aspect of being human.
Good Post JE. The thing that’s frustrating is just give the kid some credit! He beat a record and an impressive record. No one has said he’s better than Melvin Gordon just he beat his record!! I personally think that’s impressive and the fact he’s a true freshman is even more. Give credit where it’s due and the butt hurt Wisconsin fans can sit down.
Critics are like eunuch’s in a harem…
Jordan, you can’t preach about “getting your facts straight” while distorting the facts by trying to take Nebraska’s ranking “after the game” (i.e. including all the yards Gordon put on them), compare it with Kansas’ ranking “before the game” (i.e. NOT including Perine’s yardage), and claim that those two run defenses are “pretty close.” No they’re not; factoring ALL of the games in, which is what you ought to do if you want ALL of the facts, Nebraska’s run defense gives up a little over half a YPC less than Kansas does despite playing opponents who have averaged a little over half a YPC more than Kansas’ opponents have over the course of this season. Nebraska’s defense is no Steel Curtain, but they’re better than Kansas and, no, it’s not all that close. I get that you’re talking to people who want to completely discount what Perine did (which, I agree, is just stupid), but it doesn’t exactly help your case when you’re also twisting the record to suit your own purposes. There’s just no reason for it.
No, Nebraska’s defense is not any better than Kansas’. Stop trying to justify Nebraska giving up 408 yards, then 281 yesterday to Minnesota. And 180 to MCNEESE STATE…AT HOME.
Meanwhile, last week Kansas gave up 133 to TCU while Nebraska gave up 408 to Wisconsin.
Get real, Nebraska is not a good defense. Period. Any team that gives up 408 one week and then 281 the next is NOT a good defense. Just stop.
I think Jordan made it clear that his primary point was that both performances were fantastic. As you say Nebraska’s defense is “no Steel Curtain,” and as Jordan said, Kansas is “no defensive juggernaut.” The point here is that this accomplishment isn’t easy, and is remarkable, no matter whom you’re playing, or we would have seen a great back versus a mediocre rushing defense perform like this more often.
We’re pretty happy with how Perine did and can be so without disparaging Gordon’s accomplishment at all.
I’m going to sum this post up for everyone. Boo. Hoo.
I think the cliff notes version of anybody who wants to tear someone down would be….he ran for 427 yds, what have you done? Probly nothing
Well, I sat there and watched this, then watched the preview today, and about all I can say is that the other teams in the Big 2 are gonna get sick of Perine real fast if he keeps this up. Not to mention, this guy is built to take a hit, meaning that his chances of staying healthy are pretty good. Next year could be really special.
I think the Ohio St. fans are trying to build Gordon up so they appear better if they beat them in a playoff game.
The Wisky fans that are trying to diminish Perine’s record are laughable. It doesn’t matter if he set the record against KU, nor does it matter if he had taken all 4 quarters to do so…he broke the record. His name is now at the top of the list. If Melvin Gordon wants to take the record back, it’s not hard to be in position to do so…just go out and rush for more.
I watched an interview with Gordon after their game yesterday, and the announcer told him about the record being broken and Gordon’s response was: “Really? Well, congratulations to the guy that did it!”. He was very sincere when he said that. I think it’s pretty telling when the guy that broke the record sends congrats to Perine, while all the Wisky fans cry sour grapes.
Let’s also not forget that Perine is a true freshman. 😉
Maybe they’ll put a little note under Perine’s game ball in the hall of fame that mentions all the problems with Samaje’s record…too many carries, came in the 4th quarter, not against a good team?
Yep. Makes sense. I bet that’s how they’ll handle it.
Yeah…forget that L Tomlinson’s record that lasted for 15 years was set against UTEP and had 40+ carries.
Defending Perine gives credence to the haters. Nobody will think about this crap in 2 years. Ignore the hate talk and it will go away more quickly.
Perine’s individual record is nice but the 8-3 team record ( with the Puke game remaining) is the one I’ll remember. And that is what recruits across the country will remember as well which may explain the reluctance of many to join the Sooners.
Yeah, I know what you mean. 427 rushing yards in one game is nothing. I mean “is nice”. So glad you’re here to help us stay focused on how lousy this team is. Geez, 8-3!!! Who would want to play here? This team is terrible, the coaches are terrible, the kicker that you affectionately call “hunnimuff” is terrible. He cost us a game..because he gave up 31 points, threw a pick 6, and oh, not to mention those kicks he missed. Geez, I don’t even understand why people are paying to watch this stuff, much less get on a message board and post about it. Geez. Hey, remember the Coach Stoops, the winningest coach in Sooner history? YEAH. Remember that game where our freshman running back ran for 427 yards on broke the FBS record? No, I’m Stephey Dale. I remember that we are 8-3 after that game. Geez…..wait, did I say “we”, I mean OU is 8-3, I’m not a Sooner fan, just a troll.
Can we ban stephen dale please. He serves zero purpose and reading his crap every single day makes for a good headache. He is simply a troll who’s life is meaningless. My suggestion is to rid us all of this douchebag. See I can do it too
I’m not always “glass half full” but there’s a time and a place to discuss our disappointments regarding the season. I guess you can just fill in the blank when you post on future positive stories. ‘XXX was nice but the 8-3 team record….’ What’s the point? Do you think someone missed the rest of the season? You think you’re providing perspective? We’re all aware how the season has played out. I think we’ve discussed it a few times already.
There is always going to be bad defenses, every year, no question….but still, no one had ever ran for 427 on any of them before. If it were so easy, it would have been done already. It’s a remarkable record that could stand for years, or be broken next week. Regardless, you can’t take anything away from Perine’s performance.
To Teddy Greenstein – if Gordon would have rushed for 1000 yards against that garbage KU defense, Perine would have rushed for 1019 yards against that garbage Nebraska defense. #19moreyards. #always19better
Perine’s record is legit. But it’s totally reflective of a team effort, and not just the domination of the O-line. It’s also reflective of the fact that the starter Ford was ineffective on the first series and fumbled his way out of the game. If the coaches had any faith in Ford, he would have had more carries and Perine wouldn’t have got the record.
It’s also reflective of the fact that Thomas couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn on Saturday–if we had any kind of pass game at all, Perine probably doesn’t get the record.
Similarly, we didn’t run the QB much, because we had no backups at all–Bell and Knight were both out, and we don’t want to burn Hansen’s redshirt. So there’s another 50-100 yards rushing that might have gone to Thomas instead of Perine.
Bottom line, Samaje Perine got almost all of OU’s offensive yards because we had no other options. That doesn’t take away from his accomplishment–if anything, it’s all the more impressive because on a day when the only weapon we had was Perine, and the KU defense geared up to stop him, he still gashed them for more yards than anyone in history.
He might need to go for 300 next game if we’re going to beat OSU.
Check it out!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXND084KTAY
Great points Jordan!
Haters gonna hate, and nice guys always get more than their fair share of it…makes the fans appreciate him more as a form of redress I think…
Great job Samaje! (Both within the game and wider)
BOOMER!
Baron Boomer