MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — While churning and chugging toward 242 yards, four touchdowns and a Big 12 player of the week honor badge, Samaje Perine was compared to Earl Campbell, Jerome Bettis, Billy Sims, Marcus Dupree, a tank, a raging bull and a bowling ball.
And those were just the ones heard in the press box.
Oklahoma’s overwhelming ground game created not-so-glowing comparisons for West Virginia’s defense—as in, comparisons to West Virginia’s 2013 defense and the 2012 one before that. That’s some miserable company to keep.
Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, four games into his new role, finally used the word “embarrassing.” (That was one the previous two coordinators had no trouble pronouncing.) Yet Gibson also recognized what a special talent the 243-pound Perine displayed, a talent his teammates spotted the moment the freshman put on pads.
At the close of two-a-day practices, Sooners linebacker Geneo Grissom paid Perine some man-sized respect: “I told him ‘I’m glad I never have to hit you again.’ He’s a tough guy. He’s got legs that don’t stop.”
At least two West Virginia defenders, Dravon Henry and K.J. Dillon, were left prone after colliding with Perine. He also barreled through tackles by Wes Tonkery and Karl Joseph on his way to the biggest yardage output ever by a visiting runner at Mountaineer Field.
“It’s never my intention to hurt someone,” Perine told the Tulsa World on Monday. “But I have to do what I have to do, like they have to do what they have to do. If they come up on the losing end of that, I feel sorry for them, but I still have to play the game.”
Dana Holgorsen sounded most impressed by Perine emerging as a workhorse in only his fourth college game. Those 34 carries Saturday were two more than Perine’s busiest night at Hendrickson High in Pflugerville, Texas.
“He was able to sustain it for four quarters,” West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. “That tells you what kind of shape he’s in.
And the video above, we try to sustain it for the same four quarters in this week’s version of “The Takeaway.”