Oklahoma State has College Football Playoff aspirations.
Cowboys running back Ollie Gordon II is a Heisman Trophy hopeful.
No. 17 Oklahoma State and Gordon get their first chance to make an impression when they host two-time defending FCS champion South Dakota State on Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.
Gordon rushed for 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns last season, winning the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back.
He put up those numbers despite a relatively quiet start. In the first three games last season, Gordon rushed for just 109 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries combined.
Once Big 12 play began, Gordon averaged nearly 148 yards and more than 24 carries per game.
Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said there’s still plenty of room for growth for Gordon, now a junior.
“He looks good,” Gundy said. “He’s a kid, he’s growing. His thighs are pretty big, you don’t know it though because he’s so long and gangly. He’s still four to five years away from fully developing.”
While Gordon leads the way offensively for Oklahoma State, senior edge rusher/linebacker Collin Oliver, who has 22.5 career sacks, is the leader defensively.
“You know me by now,” Oliver said. “Anything for the team, I’m willing to do. The position I’m in, I love it. I’m on the edge some and I’m playing linebacker a little bit as well. It’s a cool thing to have happen and I just love the defense we’re in right now.”
The Cowboys struggled defensively last season, allowing 441.8 yards per game — among the worst in FBS.
Oklahoma State is coming off a 10-win season, their eighth in Mike Gundy’s 19 seasons at the helm. The Cowboys had reached that mark just three times before Gundy’s arrival.
The Jackrabbits have won 29 consecutive games, with their last loss coming in the 2022 season opener at Iowa, 7-3.
South Dakota State brings back quarterback Mark Gronowski, who won the Walter Payton Award last season as the top offensive player in the FCS, but is replacing many of Gronowski’s targets and much of the offensive line.
“I’m really excited for those guys to step up to the challenge,” Gronowski said.
Gronowski threw for 3,058 yards and 29 touchdowns last season and rushed for eight more scores.
But Gronowski and the Jackrabbits are looking to turn the page from last season’s success.
“That was last year,” South Dakota State head coach Jimmy Rogers said recently. “I’ll state this as clearly as I can: Our focus as a program is not about what we’ve done, it’s about where we’re going.”
And where the Jackrabbits are going now is Stillwater, where they’ll face a Cowboys team that has never lost to an FCS opponent.
But Oklahoma State realizes they aren’t facing just any FCS team.
“They have a winning culture for a reason,” Cowboys quarterback Alan Bowman said of the Jackrabbits. “I think they’re a really good team. They’re disciplined, they know what to do. They’re never in the wrong spot, so we’re going to have to be extremely disciplined and take it to them.”
The Jackrabbits are looking for their third victory over an FBS opponent. South Dakota State beat Colorado State 42-23 in 2021 and Kansas 41-38 in 2015.
–Field Level Media