NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Joe Mixon is in trouble again.
Oklahoma’s electrifying running back has been suspended for the 12th-ranked Sooners’ Thursday night game at Iowa State for violating team rules.
The team made the announcement Tuesday night. Mixon apologized in a statement for having an altercation with “parking attendants,” but the team did not provide any other details.
“I regret that I did not respond appropriately to parking attendants and understand and accept the consequences,” Mixon said.
Mixon stepped onto Oklahoma’s campus in 2014 heralded as one of the nation’s top incoming freshmen, but he was suspended for an entire season after punching a woman in the face at a restaurant before the start of fall practice. Many fans wanted him kicked off the team.
He came back and had a solid freshman year before blossoming this season. He ranks third nationally in all-purpose yards with 184.8 per game. Against Texas Tech, he gained 263 yards rushing and 114 yards receiving to become the first Sooner ever with 200 yards rushing and 100 receiving in a game.
“I thought Joe Mixon just had a game for the ages,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said after the game. “Just incredible.”
Along the way, Mixon seemingly had put his problems behind him.
“He’s really matured well,” Stoops said earlier this season. “He’s been an excellent student. He’s never on the list for anything. He does everything you want him to do and been a great teammate. All of it. In the locker room, he’s one of the more popular guys because he’s a friend to everybody.”
Mixon has all the tools. He’s a 6-foot-1, 226-pound physical specimen with breakaway speed and the hands of a good wide receiver. He has gained 1,549 all-purpose yards this season - 813 rushing, 363 on kickoff returns, 357 receiving and 25 on punt returns. He returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown against Ohio State.
Even without Thursday’s game, he will remain in reach of DeMarco Murray’s school record of 2,171 yards set in 2008. He is already tied for 18th on the school’s single-season list, and he’ll still have four games, including a bowl game, to set the record.
With Samaje Perine already sidelined with an injury, Abdul Adams should be the team’s primary ballcarrier Thursday. Adams ran for 91 yards on 13 carries in last Saturday’s 56-3 win over Kansas.
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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP .
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