Rodney Anderson was injured against UCLA on Saturday afternoon and has been ruled out for the remainder of 2018. How does this affect the Sooners?
Injuries are just part of the game, but Oklahoma football didn’t think it’d have to replace one of its most important players this early in the season.
Rodney Anderson was a key piece to the playoff picture a season ago, rushing for over 1,100 yards and 13 touchdowns but he suffered an injury against UCLA on Saturday and has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2018 season.
Oklahoma RB Rodney Anderson will miss rest of season w/knee injury suffered vs. UCLA
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 10, 2018
This is a rough blow for a team that looked like a well-oiled machine for the first two weeks, but how does this affect the Sooners’ playoff chances?
Honestly, this is a tough loss that may seem insurmountable for most other teams, but the Sooners’ offense is absolutely loaded. Anderson may be one of the top backs in college football, but the Sooners can replace him with guys like Trey Sermon, Marcelias Sutton and talented true freshman T.J. Pledger. The latter looked like a star against the Bruins.
Kyler Murray is who makes this offense go and he’s going to have a big hand in the success of this team in 2018. The offense goes as he goes and it shouldn’t skip a beat without Anderson — the Sooners beat UCLA by 28 points essentially without Anderson as he rushed for 19 yards on six carries.
Don’t worry, Oklahoma fans, this injury isn’t going to affect playoff chances too much, especially because he hasn’t been needed much in the first two blowout wins this season and the Sooners are easily the most talented Big 12 team this year.
Lose Anderson, insert Sermon, Sutton and Pledger. This team will be just fine and another playoff berth is still within reach.