Tramel's ScissorTales: Samaje Perine bails out Bengals in Joe Mixon's absence
The Cincinnati Bengals’ in-house media, bengals.com, calls Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine “The Odd Couple.”
Sooner fans can sign off on that.
Mixon and Perine were OU tailback teammates in 2015 and 2016, then were reunited with the Bengals in 2019.
Bengals.com refers to Mixon as “chatty” and Perine as “stoic.” Oklahomans never saw the chatty side of Mixon, who was suspended for his freshman season after slugging an OU coed on Campus Corner and never talked publicly until just before his final game, the Sugar Bowl, 2½ years later.
But “stoic” perfectly describes Perine.
Perine and Mixon were co-stars in Norman, but their National Football League careers have been different. Mixon is Cincinnati’s franchise tailback; he’s got 5,169 rushing yards, fifth all-time in Bengal history. Without too much trouble, Mixon by the end of next season could reach No. 2 on that Cincinnati list.
Perine is a journeyman, a backup in Washington his first two seasons and a backup with the Bengals.
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But on November 20, after Mixon was sidelined by a concussion, Perine had three touchdown catches in a 37-30 victory over Pittsburgh. Last Sunday, Perine rushed for 106 yards on 21 carries and caught six passes for 49 yards in a 27-24 victory over Kansas City.
There is no controversy. Mixon will be Cincinnati’s starting tailback as soon as he’s able, perhaps as soon as Sunday against Cleveland.
"Joe Mixon is our starting running back,” said Bengal coach Zac Taylor, who knows a little about Norman himself, having grown up there and quarterbacked Norman High School in the early 2000s. “In the last (full) game he played in, he had five touchdowns, tremendous effort.
“And Samaje has done a really good job filling in. And so, to have those two guys that you've got a lot of confidence in, whatever the moment calls for, we think that's very valuable to have, especially going into this late season stretch, and hopefully beyond that."
Perine was superb in the Bengals’ 27-24 victory over the Chiefs. His longest run was 10 yards, but he had 11 carries that netted from six to 10 yards. That’s winning football in the NFL.
Perine’s 106 yards rushing was his second-highest total as a pro, surpassed only by a 23-carry, 117-yard game for Washington in 2017.
Offensive coordinator Brian Callahan echoed Taylor’s comments about the tailback job, but “that's not to say that (Perine's) role hasn't been huge for us all year in the third down roles and the protection roles. He's been fantastic and he doesn't get enough notice or recognition for them.
“But now that you see him getting more touches and more carries, he's shown how capable of a player that he is. But we're going to use all the guys we've got. We're going to need all of them. There's still a lot of football to be played. We've got five weeks left, plus hopefully a handful of games in January, February. It's physical and we're going to need both those guys to play well."
Mixon and Perine were quite the pair of Sooner tailbacks in 2015 and 2016. Mixon the all-around threat, running and receiving. Perine the bulldog runner. As a freshman in 2014, Perine set the NCAA single-game rushing record of 427 yards, against Kansas. Perine left OU as the Sooners’ all-time leading rusher, with 4,122 yards.
"A very outgoing guy,” Perine told bengals.com about Mixon. “A lot different than what I was. What I am. That seemed to work for us. I guess you could say opposites attract. He's the outgoing one. He's the one that will talk to you and I'll just be sitting back and listening. It works great.”
It’s working great for the Bengals.
Let’s get to the predictions:
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Berry Tramel's Week 14 NFL predictions
Raiders at Rams: Las Vegas 27-17. Can Los Angeles be serious about inserting Baker Mayfield at quarterback on Thursday night? The Rams didn’t claim him off waivers until Tuesday afternoon. That’s about 52 hours to fly to LA, get to the facility, learn some terminology, decipher some of the gameplan, learn some of his coaches’ names, meet some of his teammates and, oh yeah, sleep a time or two.
Jetropolitans at Bills: Buffalo 23-7. Mike White almost produced another stirring victory for the Jets, against Minnesota. If he can get New York to hang with Buffalo, that will be even more amazing.
Browns at Bengals: Cincinnati 30-14. Joe Burrow vs. Deshaun Watson. You make the call.
Texans at Cowboys: Dallas 27-3. Cowboys get a breather.
Vikings at Lions: Detroit 32-28. The Lions are two games out of a wild-card playoff spot. It won’t be easy to make up that ground with five games left, but for the first time in forever, Detroit is interesting.
Jaguars at Titans: Tennessee 23-10. The Titans fired general manager Jon Robinson two days after being torched by the Eagles and receiver A.J. Brown, traded from Tennessee to Philadelphia in the off-season. Seems severe. The Titans have been well-constructed.
Eagles at Giants: Philadelphia 20-13. New York still fighting for a playoff spot, but it won’t be easy, with Seattle scratching to break the NFC East logjam on the postseason.
Ravens at Steelers: Pittsburgh 16-13. Baltimore likely will play without quarterback Lamar Jackson. Could the 5-7 Steelers make a run?
Chiefs at Broncos: Kansas City 20-10. Some pegged Russell Wilson and Denver as possible supplanters of the Chiefs in the AFC West. Kansas City leads Denver by six games in the division.
Buccaneers at 49ers: Tampa Bay 16-10. Brock Purdy vs. Tom Brady. What a country.
Panthers at Seahawks: Seattle 27-16. With the 49ers missing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the Seahawks can believe they have a shot at the division title. They trail San Francisco by a game.
Dolphins at Chargers: Miami 28-27. Fun Sunday night game, recently moved from the afternoon after NBC bailed on Kansas City-Denver.
Patriots at Cardinals: Arizona 26-16. New England can get back in the playoff picture, but it has to win games like this.
Last week: 10-4-1. Season: 111-82-2.
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The List: Transfer portal quarterbacks
Four-year OSU starter Spencer Sanders is not the only prominent quarterback who has entered the transfer portal. Former Michigan starter Cade McNamara is headed to Iowa, but the rest are uncommitted.
Here are the 20 best quarterbacks available in the portal:
1. Devin Leary, North Carolina State: A four-year starter who was plagued by injury, Leary has made 26 career starts, with 62 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
2. Spencer Sanders, OSU: Another four-year starter, Sanders was a 2021 all-Big 12 quarterback and most valuable player in the Fiesta Bowl. Sanders over his career has thrown for 67 touchdown passes and 40 interceptions, while rushing for 1,956 yards.
3. D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson: A freshman sensation in 2020, when he subbed for the injured Trevor Lawrence in two games (including Notre Dame) and threw for five touchdowns, no interceptions and 914 yards. But Uiagalelei has struggled in his two seasons as the starter, with 31 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions.
4. Austin Reed, Western Kentucky: Reed transferred from West Florida, where he won a 2019 Division II national championship. In 2022, his lone season at Western Kentucky, Reed threw 36 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.
5. J.T. Daniels, West Virginia: Daniels is looking for his fourth school, having gone from Southern Cal to Georgia to West Virgnia. He’s started at all three, with decent, but not resounding, success. Daniels has thrown 45 touchdown passes and 25 interceptions.
6. Kedon Slovis, Pittsburgh: Slovis was a Southern Cal phenom as a 2019 freshman, with 30 touchdowns and nine interceptions. But in the three years since, those numbers are 38/24, including 10/9 at Pitt this season.
7. Graham Mertz, Wisconsin: A three-year starter for the Badgers hasn’t been as productive as you’d expect from a guy throwing behind Wisconsin’s always-impressive offensive line. Mertz has thrown 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions, with 59.5 percent completions.
8. Jeff Sims, Georgia Tech: Sims has started a good chunk of three seasons. He’s thrown for 30 touchdowns and 23 interceptions, while rushing for 1,152 yards.
9. Brett Gabbert, Miami-Ohio: A four-year quarterback at Miami-Ohio, Gabbert has fought off injuries. But he’s been effective when healthy – 45 touchdowns, 14 interceptions.
10. Davis Brin, Tulsa: Played sparingly his first three seasons at TU, but Brin the last two seasons has thrown 34 touchdown passes, with 25 interceptions.
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11. Hudson Card, Texas: From the quarterback factory of Austin’s Lake Travis High School (Baker Mayfield, Todd Reesing, Garrett Gilbert, Michael Brewer, Charlie Brewer), Card made two starts as a redshirt freshman in 2021, then was beaten out by Quinn Ewers this season but played solid when Ewers was injured.
12. Brennan Armstrong, Virginia: A three-year starter for the Cavaliers, Armstrong’s 2022 season was a big regression under new coach Tony Elliott. Armstrong threw for seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
13. Drew Pyne, Notre Dame: Played a little behind Ian Book as a true freshman in 2020 and behind Jack Coan in 2021. Pyne lost the 2022 QB derby to Tyler Buchner, but after an injury to Buchner, Pyne took over and threw for 22 touchdowns and six interceptions.
14. Hank Bachmeier, Boise State: Has played much of the last four seasons but has been just so-so at a place that generally has productive quarterbacks. Bachmeier has thrown 41 TDs and 19 interceptions, but when he left the team after four games this season, and the Broncos turned around for the good
15. Phil Jurkovec, Boston College: Jurkovec spent two seasons as a Notre Dame backup, and now moves on from BC after three years. He’s been solid with the Eagles, but nothing special – 35 TDs, 24 interceptions, 59.5 percent completions.
16. Collin Schlee, Kent State: In his first season starting for the Golden Flashes, Schlee threw 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2022, completing 59 percent.
17. Luke Altmyer, Ole Miss: Highly-recruited, but Altmyer’s two years in Oxford have been spent backing up first Matt Corral (2021) and then Jaxson Dart.
18. Mikey Keene, Central Florida: Dillon Gabriel’s relief pitcher in 2021, after Gabriel’s season-ending injury, Keene threw for 17 TDs and six interceptions, with 63.6 percent completions. But he was back on the bench in 2022.
19. Haynes King, Texas A&M: King was A&M’s opening-day starter in 2021 but has suffered through injury and ineffectiveness. He’s thrown 10 TDs and interceptions over three years.
20. Nick Evers, OU: Evers barely played as a 2022 true freshman, even when Sooner starter Dillon Gabriel was injured and backup Davis Beville was ineffective. OU used a no-quarterback wildcat formation extensively against Texas, rather than play Evers, but the Sooner QB brand still packs a punch.
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Kevin Wilson inherits a tough Tulsa job
Kevin Wilson has been hired as the University of Tulsa football coach, and the founder of OU’s hurryup offense – at least the 21st century version – has a tough job. Every Tulsa football coach faces a tough job.
When introducing Wilson on Tuesday, TU president Brad Carson, the former congressman, hailed the Golden Hurricane’s standing in college football.
“We have a tradition of football here at TU going back more than 120 years, and we proudly hold the mantel as the smallest school with Division I football,” Carson said.
Tulsa indeed has a comparatively good football tradition, but that smallest-school stuff doesn’t help a bit. That’s not a badge of honor. That’s an albatross.
Tulsa sports an enrollment of 3,705, of which 2,613 are undergraduates. That makes for few graduates, limits the fan base and donor base, and generally means the Golden Hurricane’s resources and athletic budgets are going to be behind, in some cases far behind, its competitors.
Tulsa played Ole Miss (quite well, by the way) this season, plays OU and Washington next season and plays OSU eight straight years starting in 2024, during which TU has two games scheduled with Arkansas and another with OU.
And while the American Conference is losing its premium members to the Big 12, schools like Memphis, Southern Methodist and Tulane remain.
Tough job. Really tough job. Which explains why Philip Montgomery was fired a week ago and why athletic director Rick Dickson acknowledged Montgomery in much more than a cursory manner before introducing Wilson.
“For those of you that think you ever want to do this” job, Dickson said, “just look at me. No, you don't. You really don't. Any part of it, it's 33, 34 years, whatever it's been, it's never easy.
“The start of this week, it was never easy. Everybody in the room, everybody in the TU community, Tulsa community, knows the contribution that Philip and (wife) Ashley and their family, son and daughter, made, not just to TU but all of Tulsa.”
Montgomery was the Golden Hurricane head coach for eight seasons. His record was 43-53. Montgomery had three winning seasons: 10-3 in 2016, when TU went 6-2 in the American; 6-3 in the pandemic-stricken year of 2020 with losses of 16-7 at OSU, 27-24 at Cincinnati in the American Conference championship game and 28-26 to Mississippi State in the Armed Forces Bowl; and 7-6 last season.
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Even this 5-7 year, Tulsa was feisty. TU ended its season by beating Houston 37-30. The Cougars are headed for the Big 12.
“It's not failure,” Dickson said. “What happened last week is not about failure. You've heard me say this before here.
“We all own a piece of this, and I accept my piece of the failures in those things. It's more a matter of this endless run that we all embark on, and it's different times. It's time to pull in fresh legs and fresh energy and hand the baton.”
Dickson turned reflective. He’s 68; played defensive back for the Golden Hurricane in the 1970s, when TU was an underdog but not completely overmatched in resources the way it is now. Dickson was AD at Tulsa from 1990-94, Washington State 1994-2000, Tulane 2000-15 and now back at Tulsa since 2020.
“That time will come for me, as well,” Dickson said of ending his run. “And it makes me think of all this, but so earlier in the week, on that day -- and those of you that think these things are fantasy games, that it's just news, just entertainment, it's not.
“It's people and their lives, their careers, their families. There's people in the room today who still have uncertainty on that decision that I was part of last week. I feel that. I feel that every time I've done it throughout a career.
“I feel it when I stand in front of a room full of 120 young men. I did the same thing, for those of you that don't follow, but I did the same thing five days, six days later (firing volleyball coach Ryan Willis) with a group of young women in another one of our programs, and every one of those interactions, experiences, leaves an imprint.”
Dickson didn’t want to fire Montgomery. That seems clear. Maybe you can’t find anyone at TU that wanted Montgomery gone.
But sometimes, you don’t know what else to do. Sometimes, fresh legs and fresh energy is the fallback position. Sometimes, you hand off the baton because you don’t know what else to do with it.
Wilson knows that. He’s coached the last 24 years at four schools. OU and Ohio State. Northwestern and Indiana. Two of the most successful programs in college football history. Two of the least successful programs in college football history.
“Two schools that have the most losses in the history of college football,” Wilson said. “I can say we had success at all those places.”
As head coach at IU, Wilson went 26-47. Not good, but not bad for the Hoosiers, especially considering Indiana went to back-to-back bowls. At Northwestern, Wilson helped his mentor, Randy Walker, sustain the foundation laid by Gary Barnett after decades of losing.
“So proud of those places, proud of those stops,” Wilson said.
I’ll be writing more about Wilson in the Friday ScissorTales. But today, I wanted to write about the Tulsa job itself.
“Appreciate Rick as he went through and gave us the opportunity,” Wilson said. “I wasn't necessarily chasing jobs. I thought I had a chance to lead a program and to build a foundation, a program that can stand, and one good shot to swing as hard as you can and get a group of people to work together and build something that a university and a community and an alumni base and most importantly the players can take a lot of pride in.
“I think we're here for a purpose. We're here for a reason.”
But so was Montgomery, a good coach in a tough job.
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Mailbag: How to fix the portal
Lots of talk about how to fix the transfer portal that has thrown college football into chaotic roster overhauls:
Gary: “I heard you talking (on the Sports Animal) about how to fix the portal. I agree that anything that directly limits the athletes freedom isn’t going to hold up long. Still, the portal is bad for the game. Fans won’t build support for players with athletes jumping schools, which will lead to team support dropping. Parity will also take a huge hit as the elite teams (or those with the largest NIL offerings can ‘buy’ the best players from smaller schools each year. They will be able to bring in developed, proven players as needed. That brings me to my idea. What if something was done to slow down the attractiveness of bringing in the transfer players? What if the transfer player counted against the school’s 85 scholarship limit for three years or the amount of eligibility the athlete has left, whichever is longer? That way the receiving school would ‘pay’ for the development time provided by the first school. Something similar would still allow transfers but work to slow it to more manageable numbers.”
Tramel: Wait. How do we know the portal is bad for the game? I’m serious. We don’t know that. Not yet, anyway.
I don’t see how limiting the scholarships helps anything. Cutting down on the number of kids who can play college football? That’s what scholarship reductions do.
I don't even see what the problem is yet. Nothing has happened that is cause for alarm. We've got more parity than we had 3-4 years ago. No Alabama or Clemson or Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff. That's progress for parity.
Attendance was up this season. Television ratings were up.
Most advents of free agency in sports have triggered alarmists, saying it's bad for the game, but then it turns out great for the game.
I'd say do nothing for five years, then see where we're at.
But restricting players is not the solution.
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Thunder lottery status largely known
Memphis beat the Thunder 123-102 Wednesday night in quite the instructive game. It reminded us what a mostly-finished product looks like.
The Grizzlies and Thunder staged three grand playoff series, 2011-14, then Memphis fell off from contention status and was joined by OKC in autumn 2020.
Now the Grizzlies are a few years ahead of OKC in the rebuilding stage, even to the point Memphis made the Western Conference semifinals last season and pushed eventual champion Golden State in an exciting series.
We all wonder when the Thunder will get back to being a playoff regular and perhaps even a Western Conference title contender. Optimism reigns, because of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, an interesting core of young players, the eventual arrival of Chet Holmgren and a bushel of future draft picks.
But we don’t know the timetable, and neither does anyone else, Sam Presti included.
However, one piece of the future seems likely. The Thunder figures to have the sixth-best odds in the 2023 NBA lottery.
I know, seems crazy to predict a precise slot for a team’s order of finish this far out. I mean, some years you can tell early who is going to finish first or last, but anywhere in between?
Hear me out.
The Thunder is 11-14 and tied for the eighth-worst record in the 30-team NBA.
There seems little chance OKC will fall into the bottom five. Those spots are accounted for, by 6-20 Orlando, 6-18 San Antonio, 7-20 Detroit, 7-18 Charlotte and 7-17 Houston.
Of that crowd, perhaps the Pistons, Hornets and Rockets could find some footing and play at a better winning rate. Detroit and Houston, especially, have some young players who will continue to improve.
But neither franchise has much incentive to focus on winning instead of player development, though the Pistons did trade for sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic.
Conversely, most of the teams above those bottom five seem unlikely to fall. Who around the Thunder seems headed for a second-half tank job?
The Lakers and Bulls both are 10-14. Are they going to collapse in the second half? In some ways, they already have collapsed, and they’re 10-14.
The Wizards and Heat each are 11-14, same as OKC. Miami is like Los Angeles and Chicago, only moreso; a major disappointment. But the Heat aren’t going into rebuild mode.
Washington? It’s possible but unlikely. The Wizards are on the cusp of a play-in berth, and that’s important to a franchise like Washington, which has missed the playoffs four of the last five years and made the postseason just 10 times in the last 35 seasons.
Move up the ladder. The 12-13 Knickerbockers? No tank there. The surprising, 13-12 Pacers? Indiana always has been tank-averse, and even when Indiana has taken steps to rebuild, like now, it plays above its pay grade.
The 15-12 Jazz or 13-10 Kings? Both seem capable of falling, but they’ve won so much, through a third of the season, that a major collapse is unlikely.
The Thunder, too, has punched above its weight. But OKC has been fortunate. No significant injuries (other than Holmgren). Gilgeous-Alexander has missed two games. If he goes down for an extended period, the Thunder offense goes with it.
It’s far more likely that the Thunder’s current winning percentage of .440 goes down than goes up.
I’m telling you. Even before Christmas, the sixth-best lottery odds appears quite likely for OKC.
In 2021, the Thunder and Cavaliers were tied for the fourth-best lottery odds. OKC ended up with the sixth pick in the draft.
In 2022, OKC had the fourth-best lottery odds. OKC ended up second in the draft.
The sixth-best lottery odds offer a nine percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick, which in 2023 means French phenom Victor Wembanyama.
The Thunder would take those odds right now. Which is a good thing. Because that’s exactly where OKC figures to land.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ex-Sooner Samaje Perine bails out Bengals in Joe Mixon's absence
