In a Disappointing Season, RB Eric Gray Continues to be Oklahoma's Bright Spot

Gray ran for 211 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday's 23-20 loss to West Virginia in Morgantown.

The 2022 season has undoubtedly been highly disappointing for Oklahoma.

Despite it being just the first season under Brent Venables, the Sooners certainly still expected to be in the thick of the Big 12 title race with potentially having a shot to return to the College Football Playoff.

But, after a 3-0 start through non-conference play, the wheels have fallen off as OU has dropped five of their last seven games to be sitting at just 5-5 with two games left on the schedule.

However, in a year where a lot hasn’t gone as planned, the biggest bright spot has unquestionably been the play of senior running back Eric Gray.

Gray continued his monster season in Saturday’s 23-20 loss to West Virginia, running for 211 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.

“That’s probably what I hate the most is that Eric played the way he played again and he’s not getting to enjoy it (because of the loss),” offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said postgame. “For the second week in a row it’s a short story for other reasons — situational football today.”

After his latest output, Gray has now reached 1,113 rushing yards on the season with ten touchdowns - clearly serving as Oklahoma’s most reliable offensive player.

If he were to maintain the same per-game pace that he’s set through OU’s first ten games, and the Sooners were to reach a bowl game to give him a 13th outing, he would finish the season with 1,447 yards - which would be good enough for the ninth-most in single-season program history.

When his team needed him on Saturday with the passing game struggling in the downpour of rain in Morgantown, Gray delivered his biggest outing of the season - albeit in what was ultimately a losing effort.

Eric Gray / Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

“I thought he played exactly how he's played all year,” head coach Brent Venables said. “He's incredibly consistent, tough, very reliable, dependable and a really good player. That's one guy who you haven't had to worry about. He's showed up every single game.”

Venables’ sentiment is largely correct - Gray has shown up every single game.

His lowest yardage total this season was 59 against Texas, which most understand was due to extenuating circumstances where the Sooners had no threat of a passing game with quarterback Dillon Gabriel out with injury.

Gray has gone over 100 yards rushing seven different times this season while also contributing another 189 yards through the passing game throughout the season.

Simply put, it’s hard to imagine where Oklahoma would be at this point in the season without the Tennessee transfer.

“Eric’s Eric,” Lebby said. “He’s a stud. It’s like I told these guys, the thing I hate more than anything is he’s not getting to enjoy it, but he played his butt off again.”

The first year of the Venables era has inarguably been one to forget for OU fans, but Gray has done everything in his power to keep the Sooners in the win column as much as possible.

Now, if Oklahoma wants to reach bowl eligibility, they will have to find a way to either win Bedlam next week at home or close the season with a win over Texas Tech in Lubbock.

But, one that thing that can be assured is that Gray will be leaving it all out on the field to try and make sure that sixth win happens. 

“Everyone in the state of Oklahoma knows how big Bedlam is,” Gray said. “Everybody in that locker room knows how big Bedlam is. So you definitely have to get up for Bedlam, everybody’s going to get up for Bedlam, and I think it’ll be a great positive to recharge again this week.”

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