Former Oklahoma running back Trey Sermon has made his decision. He’s transferring to Ohio State.
Ohio State just got a terrific talent to throw into the backfield mix.
Oklahoma transfer Trey Sermon entered the transfer portal, leaving a loaded Sooner backfield for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have talent at running back, but they could use a star.
QB Justin Fields is still the star of the offense, but the loss of JK Dobbins took away a 2,003-yard, 21-touchdown, 23-catch back who – if it’s possible for a player of his production – was nationally underappreciated.
Sermon isn’t Dobbins, but he’s a proven producer who came up with 2,076 career rushing yards with 22 touchdowns, and caught 36 passes for 391 yards and three scores.
The 6-0, 216-pounder is quick and tears off yards in chunks, but he’s not the home-run hitter Dobbins was. The starter in the rotation early on last season, he suffered a knee injury and lost his workload, carrying the ball just nine times in the final nine games.
In 2018, though, he ran for 947 yards and 13 scores, hitting the 100-yard mark four times as the occasional feature-back. He won’t be asked to turn into a workhorse for the Buckeyes, but handling the ball 15 times or more will never be an issue.
Ohio State gets back Master Teague – the second-leading rusher with 789 yards and four touchdowns last year – but he’s coming off a torn Achilles’ heel. There are a whole slew of promising young backs, but expect Sermon to be the main man early on, at least until Teague is ready.
As a freshman, Sermon ran 17 times for 62 yards in the 2017 31-16 win over the Buckeyes.
