Before the season, all of the talk about who would lead Sooners in rushing focused on [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] and [autotag]Gavin Sawchuck[/autotag]. The coaches also talked about the role [autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag] could have.
Barnes and Sawchuck haven’t looked healthy all year, and Major has been pretty good. But the forgotten man in that group might be having the best season of them all: [autotag]Tawee Walker[/autotag].
Walker leads the Sooners this year with 239 yards rushing. He has the second-most rushing touchdowns with four, and has averaged 4.5 yards per carry. It’s not just his rushing ability. Walker has been a great pass-blocker. There were several times on Saturday, including the final play, when Walker picked up a crucial block springing a big play for the Sooners.
He also added two rushing touchdowns in the game. Walker spoke to reporters after the game about his performance.
“I was very confident,” Walker said. “Of course, this is a game that’s going to go to the end. For years it’s been going like that. So, I was confident in my team, and the second touchdown coming out of the half kicked started the second half. Started out strong. It just felt good.”
Walker isn’t the fastest running back, and he might not even be the best running back on the team. But, right now, he’s the most consistent running back and playing better than anyone on the depth chart. He’s been the hardest to bring down, and he’s has a little [autotag]Samaje Perine[/autotag] in him.
Coming out of the bye week, we’ll see what happens at running back but Walker has absolutely solidified himself in the rotation.
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