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2017 Oklahoma Sooners Football Countdown To Kickoff | 36 Days!

Oklahoma’s versatile offensive weapon looks to have a big senior season in 2017.

Louisiana Monroe v Oklahoma Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images

We are now 36 days away from kicking off the 2017 college football season, and with that comes the next installment in our countdown. Dimitri Flowers, the senior fullback from San Antonio, has provided the Oklahoma Sooners offense with the kind of versatility and dynamism that make both old school and new school fans proud.

The fullback position was once a staple for any self-respecting football team before the spread offense made it more popular to run empty sets and three or four wide. Over time, many schools simply did not make a concerted effort to recruit the position, if they recruited fullbacks at all. This hasn’t been the case in Norman, however. With the likes of JD Runnels, Trey Millard and Aaron Ripkowski, Dimitri Flowers has a plethora of exceptional history at his position to look back on.

Flowers is also etching his own place among the fullback greats of the Crimson and Cream with his ever-increasing utilization under Lincoln Riley’s offensive system and play calling. Last season against the Iowa State Cyclones, in perhaps OU’s most crucial time for a player to step up, Dimitri Flowers took that next step. It was a Thursday night, Samaje Perine was still sidelined because of a injury, and Joe Mixon was just suspended for a parking ticket incident. True freshman Abdul Adams looked to be the go-to guy early on, but it quickly became apparent after a handful of hand-offs that Flowers was going to have a special night.

After the game was finally put to rest, the victorious Sooners rejoiced in the locker room. Game balls were given out as they routinely are, and Flowers was justifiably awarded with a game ball for his 115 rushing yards on 22 attempts. What made his night even more remarkable was that those 22 carries were the first official carries of Flowers’s career.

Sooner Nation has learned to expect monumental efforts from their fullbacks, and we are expecting nothing less from number 36 in 2017.