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The Duel

3 Greatest Running Backs in Oklahoma History

By David Kaestle

Adrian Peterson was one of the most electrifying running backs in college football history.
Adrian Peterson was one of the most electrifying running backs in college football history. / Brian Bahr/Getty Images
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The Oklahoma Sooners have one of the most-dominant college football programs out there. For decades they have put monsters on the field on Saturdays and sent a number of those same guys on to the NFL.

While Oklahoma has morphed into more of a passing offense in recent years, the running game used to be its bread and butter, and it has fielded some of college football's greatest running backs.

Let's take a look at the three best Oklahoma running backs of all time.

3. Billy Sims, 1975-1979

Billy Sims put together one of the more complete Oklahoma careers in his time in Norman. He's second all-time in Oklahoma career rushing yards (4,118), second in career rushing touchdowns (53) and in his 1978 season, he recorded the second-most single-season rushing yards with 1,896.

2. Samaje Perine, 2014-2016

Samaje Perine is Oklahoma's all-time leading rusher, with 4,122 yards in his Sooner career. He also holds the record for most rushing yards in a single game with a whopping 427 in 2014 against Kansas. Perine has the fourth-most rushing touchdowns in school history with 49 and owns the fifth-best single season rushing total with 1,713 yards in 2014. He was able to accomplish all of this in just three years at Oklahoma.

1. Adrian Peterson, 2004-2006

While he doesn't top the charts in every statistical category, I think most would still consider Adrian Peterson Oklahoma's greatest running back. The Heisman trophy winner lit up the college football world as a freshman. In just three seasons in Norman, Peterson racked up 4,045 rushing yards (fourth in school history), 41 rushing touchdowns (seventh in school history) and also holds the record for most rushing yards in a single season with 1,925 in 2004. With less than 100 yards between him and the career rushing leader, there's no telling how many school records Peterson would own if he played out his full tenure with Oklahoma.

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David Kaestle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username davekaestle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.