The gray area is not expected from the former Tennessee RB

Oklahoma football offense is top notch when it is able to drive the ball consistently and effectively.

And while the Sooners have been the most powerful attack last season, that’s when they’ve had a substitute duo in setback. Like DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown, Damien Williams and Brennan Clay, Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon and Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks.

The last time Brooks made a handoff in an OU attack, in 2019, Sermon was his running partner and Jalen Hurts handled most of Sooners ’running chances and defeated both Brooks and Sermon.

Hurts and Sermon are long gone, now working in the NFL, but Brooks is back in 2021, which is probably his last season in the Sooner uniform.

Brooks will share his running duties this season with the Tennessee transfer Eric Gray. And Sooners has pretty good talent behind the two, as well as red-shirt sophomore Marcus Major and another transfer, Tre Bradford, from LSU.

Gray, the junior, will be wearing the jersey number “0” this season. He led the Tennessee rush a year ago, having 722 yards and an average of 4.9.

The 5-foot, 10-inch 205-pound run-back gave Sooner fans a taste of what he can do and won 23 yards on four carriages, including scoring, in the annual OU Spring Game this year. He was described by John Hoover, who covers Oklahoma Sports illustrated, as a versatile run with a multi – purpose weapon that can cut the defense by handover or bypass reception. “

Gray told John Williams of Sooners Wire that the decision to come to Oklahoma was an easy one:

– So many awesome runners who came through Oklahoma. Oklahoma Crime History. When I came to the transfer portal, I kind of knew that Oklahoma was the school I wanted to go to. “

Head coach Lincoln Riley has been impressed that the former Tennessee ran back from the day he stepped onto campus in the spring.

“I can’t say enough about the child,” Riley said during the Big 12 Media Days in July. “I told someone earlier, it feels like he’s been on our program for months or years. He honestly transcended everything we put in front of him. “

Gray, who was coming from the SEC, was naturally asked how he thought Oklahoma would fit into the SEC. “Being here is just like in the SEC,” he said:

“This is a great school, a great program, so it’s definitely right for this league …

“This program is one of the largest programs ever built. They just have a great opportunity to join this league and be a resource in that league. “

The debate is over. In a couple of weeks, we’ll see what he’s really doing on the field.

I have a pretty strong feeling that Gray can withstand all the hype, especially running one of the best attack lines in the country.