The past few seasons, the Oklahoma Sooners have had a lot of notable players come through their storied program, and one that may have made one of the biggest impacts is actually someone the casual fan might not even recognize, and that’s fullback Trey Millard.
For four years as a starter on the Sooners offense, Millard was one of the more productive and reliable players that has ever come through Norman, but with those four years up, his time manning the Sooners’ backfield is up, leaving a huge void for 2014.
Luckily, though, one of head coach Bob Stoops’ early freshman enrollees, Dimitri Flowers, has stepped up in a huge way to try and fill that gap left with the absence of Millard, meaning that Oklahoma could be set at that position for the next four years to come.
“This is the first guy in three years that we felt reminded us of Trey Millard because they aren’t easy to find,” Stoops told ESPN about Flowers. “We get him on campus and he’s everything and more than we thought he would be. We’re elated with all the things he can do and how similar he is to Trey Millard and all the versatility Trey gave to us.”
That “versatility” word is the key to everything in this case. Was Millard ever a 1,000-yard rusher? No, he wasn’t, however he made his impact by being able to contribute in a variety of ways other than just carrying the rock. His blocking was exceptional, his pass-catching ability was key and he was almost like having a second quarterback on the field to run things.
Eventually, that’s what Stoops and the rest of the Sooners coaching staff is looking to get from Flowers, and he seems to be getting an early jump in that.