NORMAN — Oklahoma's running back room has been something to monitor through three weeks.

Specifically, it's clear that things are still up in the air.

While Gavin Sawchuk has long been seen as the player atop the depth chart, the non-conference schedule revealed that Sawchuk has been far from the go-to guy. In fact, Jovantae Barnes and true freshman Taylor Tatum have been heavily involved and more efficient than Sawchuk.

But the running back rotation is going to be a bigger focus moving forward, especially as the Sooners begin SEC play this weekend against No. 6 Tennessee (6:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC). For OU coach Brent Venables, it's likely that trio will all continue to see playing time.

But that's not necessarily the end goal.

“I think you’re gonna need all three for the season," Venables said when asked by OUInsider during Wednesday's SEC teleconference. "It’s a very physical conference and (you’re gonna) need to be able to establish a run game.

"I do think in a perfect world, someone emerges and becomes the guy."

Are the Sooners any closer to finding who 'the guy' at running back could be in the SEC?

Sawchuk, as expected, has been the starter for all three games this season, but his role hasn't been substantial. He barely played after the first quarter, as Tatum and Barnes assumed the bulk of the backfield work.

When taking a closer look at the running back room, the stats show it's largely been a three-back committee for RB coach DeMarco Murray so far:

Barnes has seen more carries and snaps than the other two, and he's been steady and more consistent than he was last season. But Tatum has shown the most upside — he leads the group in yards per carry by a significant margin, and he's the only running back who has scored this season.

He's shown his ability as a pass-catcher, catching a nine-yard pass from Jackson Arnold against Tulane last Saturday, while Sawchuk has two receptions for 10 yards. Tatum's PFF season grade (70.0) is also noticeably better than both Sawchuk (55.9) and Barnes (58.9). Even more noticeable is his pass-blocking grade (79.7) is much higher — surprising, considering that's typically an area where true freshmen struggle — compared to Sawchuk (65.2) and Barnes (41.9). Though, his run-blocking grade is lower than both.

Arnold praised Tatum during his availability on Monday.

""I'm actually really impressed with how Tatum played," Arnold said. "I couldn't imagine coming in as an enrollee — and not even an early enrollee, a summer enrollee — and coming in and making an impact like he did, and like he does. If I came in in the summer and they threw me to my first college game, I would not perform at all. But, I'm super proud of him, he's worked his butt off to get here, studies that playbook. Really knows what he's doing on the field, I can trust that guy to go out and make a play whenever I need him."

The running backs are going to be incredibly important against Tennessee, a team that ranks fourth nationally in rushing defense (55.7 yards per game) and has yet to surrender a rushing touchdown. The Sooners' rushing offense has been inconsistent through three weeks, averaging 4.3 yards per carry. Arnold actually leads the team in carries (36) and yards (59) while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

But the Sooners are going to need the running backs to step up. And for Venables, hopefully the game will shed more light on who can be the go-to guy moving forward.

“You look at those three guys, Jovantae has done a fantastic job," Venables said. "Obviously we’ve talked about him a lot. His health is good and just playing with a little bit different purpose this year, as well. Taylor has shown great signs of growth and maturity. You know he’s incredibly talented. He’s playing catch up compared to the other guys from an experience (standpoint) and just having gotten here at the beginning of the summer, so there’s been a lot to learn but he’s worked hard at it and he’s made great growth and improvement, and I would expect his opportunities to increase as well.

"And then Gavin’s been a great leader and the model of consistency. He’s done everything right.”

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