For a program that’s won just six Big 12 games and 22 overall since the departure of former Kansas head coach Mark Mangino, Oklahoma’s had several memorable moments against the Jayhawks since.
There was the infamous Baker Mayfield crotch grab late in the third quarter during the Sooners’ 41-3 win in Lawrence back in 2017. Before that, though, then-OU true freshman running back Samaje Perine ran wild on a lightning-delayed, rainy day in Norman.
Late into November of the 2014 season, the Sooners were without starting quarterback Trevor Knight who was on the mend from a neck injury. Oklahoma turned the signal-calling duties over to Cody Thomas and relied heavily on the run game to race away from Kansas, 44-7.
Fans that braved the weather were witnesses to a Sooners’ running game treat. Perine authored a monster NCAA record-setting day on the ground. One week after Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon set the NCAA single-game rushing record, Perine one-upped it and broke that mark, carrying 34 times for 427 yards.
It got started with a bang. The Pflugerville, Texas product took his first tote into the end zone on a 49-yard touchdown run. Perine finished with five rushing touchdowns on his record-setting day, adding touchdown runs of 33, 34, 66, and 27 yards.
That performance left former OU head coach Bob Stoops marveling.
“The guy is just so exceptional in everything that he does. We were thinking about resting him, and then someone said he only needs 35 more yards, and you know, that’s just too close not to do it, and there’s too much time left in the game,” Stoops said of Perine’s historic performance immediately after the win.
Perine set the record in style, too. He broke the mark on a 42-yard run with 12:16 left in the fourth quarter.
Samaje Perine rushes for NCAA single-game rushing record, No. 21 Oklahoma beats Kansas, 44-7.
– Perine: 427 Yds, 5 TD pic.twitter.com/B5hTyUqnYv— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 22, 2014
Afterward, Perine delivered a hilarious response when asked if he would be watching ESPN to catch highlights and reaction to his legendary performance.
“No, I’m probably gonna watch cartoons,” Perine said as the media gathering laughed. That’s when everyone learned he was a fan of Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo.
There’s no telling if Perine still catches cartoons in his downtime, but he did get some good news just this morning when the Cincinnati Bengals activated him off the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Perine still holds that NCAA single-game rushing record and also owns the record for career rushing yards in Oklahoma football history with his 4,122 career rushing yards.