Samaje Perine was even tougher to bring down in high school

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The last we heard of Samaje Perine on a prep football field, he was finishing off Football Canada for Team USA in the fifth-annual International Bowl at the University of Texas-Arlington's Maverick Stadium on Feb. 7.

The Hendrickson (Pflugerville, Texas) standout scored the game's last two touchdowns on runs of 6 and 28 yards and finished with six carries for 53 yards.

Those were pedestrian numbers considering what the Oklahoma true freshman did Saturday in a 44-7 win over Kansas.



Perine set the FBS single-game rushing record with 427 yards on 24 carries and scored five touchdowns as the 21st-ranked Sooners improved to 8-3. He broke the mark of 408 yards that was set just a week ago by Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin.

"I'm not really feeling special in any type of way," Perine told reporters after the game Saturday. "I was just looking to do what I had to do to help this team win."

An absolute load at 5-foot-11 and 243 pounds, Perine had eight rushes of 20 or more yards. He became just the third FBS back to gain more than 400 yards, joining Gordon and TCU's LaDainian Tomlinson, who had 406 yards against UTEP.

"Perine was just sensational," Sooners coach Bob Stoops told reporters. "Samaje is such a humble guy in everything he does. It was fun to get the record for a guy like that."

Perine wasn't even Stoops' No. 1 running back recruit from 2014. But five-star back Joe Mixon was suspended for the season, helping to vault Perine to the forefront. He's rushed for 1,428 yards and 19 touchdowns in 11 games.

Perine was a four-star recruit, according to 247Sports, after rushing for 1,492 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior and 1,993 yards and 16 scores as a junior. He wasn't offered a scholarship by nearby Texas because of a knee injury he suffered as a sophomore. That, and Perine told MaxPreps correspondent Randy Jennings, the Longhorns understood he wanted to play away from home.



Here is what Jennings wrote about Perine on National Signing Day.

"The physical running style of running back Samaje Perine has drawn comparisons to Adrian Peterson. And just like the Minnesota Vikings' star, Perine is leaving Texas to play for the Oklahoma Sooners.

"I'd say my style is a downhill runner that is not going to make too many moves,'' said the 6-foot, 213-pounder who rushed for more than 3,500 yards in the last two seasons.

Despite living close to the University of Texas, Perine said the Longhorns were never in the picture.

"I wanted to get away from home,'' he said. "Oklahoma is a great school with great coaches and I have a chance to contribute early.''