Column: Forget the Redshirt, Oklahoma Needs to Give the Football to Xavier Robinson

The Sooners' fabulous freshman played just four snaps all season before his breakout game against Maine, then nearly saved the season with his performance against Missouri.

Oklahoma running back Xavier Robinson / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Brent Venables had a plan.

But a better plan was to win the football game.

That’s why quarterback Jackson Arnold didn’t redshirt last season. And it’s why running back Xavier Robinson shouldn’t redshirt this season.

Like Arnold last year at BYU, Robinson was called upon late in his freshman season to come off the bench at Missouri and give the Sooner offense a shot in the arm.

The same week that Venables proclaimed the OU coaching staff intended to redshirt Arnold, the young QB had to come in and replace injured Dillon Gabriel in Provo and directed a late scoring drive that pushed the Sooners to victory.

The same week that Venables declared he would redshirt Robinson, the young RB had to come in and replace injured Jovantae Barnes in Columbia and powered a late scoring drive that pushed the Sooners to victory — which was somehow squandered in the final two minutes.

After Robinson rushed six times for 29 mop-up yards and a touchdown in the easy win over Maine, plus a 46-yard pass reception — he had played just four snaps all season, catching two passes against Texas — Venables was asked last week about the redshirt status of Robinson and freshman offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis. Venables said he would “not burn their redshirt year” and intended to cap their participation this season at the NCAA redshirt limit of four regular season games.

But now — after this week’s bye week — Robinson faces something of an existential crisis.

Does he want to play next week against Alabama? (Who wouldn’t?) Or the following week at LSU? (Same question.)

Or does he want to sit out the final two games and hope his teammates can get him to a bowl game and then just wait around and hope to play a bigger role later in his career?

Sorry, but that’s an antiquated way to approach college football in 2024.

What Robinson showed last week as he knocked down Missouri tacklers like tenpins was that he brings immediate value to an offense that needs it. He didn’t play in the first half, got one carry in the third quarter, then in the fourth quarter was the best player on the field. He finished a stunning 30-23 loss to the Tigers with nine rushes for 56 yards and also caught a pass for 7 yards.

At Carl Albert, Robinson was the engine that hurdled the Titans to back-to-back state championships in 2022 and 2023, rushing for 2,598 yards and 41 total touchdowns as a junior and 1,789 yards 36 touchdowns as a senior. In the regular season of his senior year, he averaged nearly 11 yards per carry.

Robinson may not have gotten any playing time at OU in the first half of the season, but the 6-foot, 226-pound Robinson is ready for a starring role in college football — particularly at a position that has been uneven at best for the Sooners in 2024.

“(He had) fresh legs and he showed what he could do last week (against Maine),” offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley said Saturday night. “I was excited to see him in the game. He just brings a different level of physicality, running through things. He never really goes down on the first hit, he’s so big and strong and works so hard. I’m excited to see where he continues to help us this year.”

That needs to be on the field on the next two game days.

The question comes down to this: Does Venables want to beat Alabama and/or LSU and get to a bowl game? Or does he want to risk saving Robinson's redshirt for the next coach?

Regardless of whether Robinson has college eligibility left in 2028 or 2029 — Venables and his staff certainly don’t need to be thinking that far down the line if they’re essentially coaching for their jobs in 2024 — then handing Robinson the football over these next two games increases Oklahoma’s odds of picking up its sixth win and qualifying for a bowl. 

Even if Barnes comes back 100 percent from the sprained ankle that kept him from making the trip to Mizzou, the Sooners need a more physical running game, and Robinson proved he can help Barnes carry the load. Arnold is still turnover prone, and while pass protection remains sketchy, the offensive line seems to be shaping up in the ground game, where it worked the Tigers’ defense for 157 rushing yards and 4.9 yards per carry. 

“We’ve done a good job running the football,” Finley said. “I thought our guys did a really good job tonight, man. There were holes there. We got bodies on bodies, gaining 4 or 5 yards. We were real close to making some big plays. That last drive with Xavier Robinson, we went right down the field running the football.” 

In the fourth quarter alone, Robinson had gains of 10, 9, 6, 7, 8, 1, 10, 4 and 5 yards. 

“He was fantastic,” Venables said. “Just kind of building off what he showed last week as well, got in and did well early, in the early snaps he got in. Went with him (late) because he was running through trash, great instincts, ran well behind his pads, broke a lot of tackles. Really helped us move the ball down there and score late.”

“He was running his butt off today,” Arnold said. “I was super proud of him. He was toting it toward the end. 

“It’s a big confidence booster, especially with somebody like him — a true freshman guy getting thrown into the fire.”

Arnold knows the value of getting those clutch snaps as a first-year player.

A freshman running back isn’t necessarily going to save this season for Oklahoma, which stands at 5-5 and will be a big underdog twice down the stretch. But giving him the football down the stretch does improve OU's chances of winning and also sends a message to the team and to a starving fan base: Venables is here to win games — and win now.