Ed Orgeron reveals Kevontre Bradford status ahead of Saturday game

Ahead of LSU‘s matchup with McNeese State, Ed Orgeron revealed the status of running back Kevontre Bradford.

On the SEC coaches teleconference, Orgeron stated Bradford’s status for Saturday is “up in the air.” Additionally, Orgeron mentioned that Bradford is like a member of the family, and played and coaches welcome him back.

After one season in Baton Rogue, Bradford transferred to Oklahoma in June. Following participating in summer workouts and fall camp with the Sooners, Bradford opted to return to LSU.

Unfortunately for Oklahoma, Bradford’s departure left them with just two scholarship running backs on their roster, Eric Gray and Kennedy Brooks.

As for LSU, the running back joins an Tigers team that’s reeling from a Week One upset loss to UCLA. The Tigers struggled to run the football against the Bruins, accumulating just 49 rushing yards as a team.

As a freshman at LSU, Bradford appeared in five games, rushing ten times for 58 yards and had a touchdown reception. Coming out of Lancaster High School in Texas, Bradford was a four-star prospect. In three seasons at Lancaster, Bradford rushed for more than 3,000 yards.

Hopefully, Kevontre Bradford can provide Orgeron and his team with a much-needed boost in the department.

Examining Oklahoma’s running back depth

Oklahoma lost running backs TJ Pledger, Seth McGowan, Mikey Henderson and Marcus Major to a myriad of issues. McGowan and Henderson were dismissed from the program, Pledger transferred to Utah earlier this offseason. Just this week, the Sooners recieved word that Major would be ineligible for the 2021 season. Oklahoma also lost running back Rhamondre Stevenson to the NFL Draft.

Following Kevontre Bradford’s departure, Oklahoma has just two scholarship running backs on the roster.

Junior Eric Gray transferred in to Oklahoma this offseason from Tennessee. In two years with the Volunteers, Gray rushed for 1311 yards and 11 total touchdowns from scrimmage. Gray had a total of 1680 yards from scrimmage, averaging 5.6 yards per touch.

Redshirt senior Kennedy Brooks opted out of the 2020 season but had back to back 1000+ yard seasons as a redshirt freshman and sophomore. In his Oklahoma career, Brooks has 2067 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.

In Oklahoma’s Week One win over Tulane, Brooks rushed for 87 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries while Gray rushed for 27 yards on nine carries. Quarterback Spencer Rattler rushed eight times for seven yards and a touchdown and freshman quarterback Caleb Williams subbed in to punch a touchdown in for the Sooners from one yard out.

On3’s Tim Verghese contributed to this article.