NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma Sooners junior running back Rodney Anderson will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, a huge blow to the fifth-ranked Sooners’ College Football Playoff chances.
The team announced the injury Sunday.
“We’re heartbroken for him,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said in a statement. “He’s overcome so much in his career, and if anybody can do it again it’s Rodney. He’s played a lot of great football and has a lot more ahead of him. He’s just a tremendous person and player and we’ll miss him on the field. But we know he’ll be with us every step of the way as a team captain, and that other players will step up in his place.”
Anderson suffered the injury on the final play of the quarter Saturday against UCLA. After being tackled by a pair of Bruins, Anderson came up clutching his right knee.
This will be Anderson’s third season-ending injury at Oklahoma.
He was lost for the year in 2015 after going down with a broken leg two games into the season. The following spring, he suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck, and was out for the season again.
Anderson came back to win the starting job midway through the season. And over his last seven games, he led the FBS in yards from scrimmage, culminating with 201 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the CFP loss to Georgia in the Rose Bowl.
Anderson was a preseason All-Big 12 section. He rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries in the opener two weeks ago against Florida Atlantic.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Kyler Murray, who, with Anderson out Saturday, became the first quarterback to lead the Sooners in rushing in four years. “We’ve just got to keep going.”
In place of Anderson, the Sooners will turn to sophomore Trey Sermon to shoulder the rushing load. As a true freshman, Sermon ran for 744 yards and five touchdowns. He also caught a key touchdown from Baker Mayfield in the second half of Oklahoma’s win at Ohio State. Sermon has 82 yards and a touchdown through two games this season.
Alongside Sermon, the Sooners will be leaning more on senior Marcelias Sutton and true freshman T.J. Pledger.
“We’ve got other good players in there,” Riley said Saturday. “Honestly, play-calling wise and design, it’s not going to change a whole lot. We’ve got confidence in the guys we have there. They all have dynamic skillsets.
“That’s part of the deal at that position. It’s a physical position. … and we’ve worked hard to build depth there.”