Oklahoma RB Anderson suffers season-ending knee injury

Oklahoma running back Rodney Anderson, rated the 50th-best prospect for the 2019 draft by NFLDraftScout.com, will miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury, Sooners coach Lincoln Riley announced Sunday. "We're heartbroken for him," Riley said in a release. "He's overcome so much in his career, and if anybody can do it again it's Rodney. "He's played a lot of great football and has a lot more ahead of him. He's just a tremendous person and player and we'll miss him on the field. But we know he'll be with us every step of the way as a team captain, and that other players will step up in his place." Anderson, a redshirt junior, suffered the injury to his right knee against UCLA on Saturday, when he was tackled on the final play of the first quarter after a 10-yard run. Anderson came up holding his right knee and was taken to the locker room. He was on the sideline in the second half wearing street clothes and a brace on the knee. This is the third significant injury of Anderson's college career. He suffered a broken leg in the second game of his freshman season in 2015 and sat out the 2016 season because of a fractured vertebra, sustained during fall camp. He had a breakthrough on the field in the second half of last season, finishing with 1,161 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. He notably had a 201-yard, two-touchdown performance against Georgia in the Rose Bowl. Anderson scampered for 100 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries in the Sooners' win over Florida Atlantic in the 2018 season opener. Sophomore Trey Sermon replaced Anderson in the backfield Saturday and figures to be the lead back. He rushed for 744 yards as a true freshman last season. The Sooners will also turn to senior Marcelias Sutton and true freshman T.J. Pledger.