STILLWATER — The Oklahoma State wrestling team is hitting the road this weekend to take part in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. John Smith met with reporters Wednesday to preview the tournament.

The Cowboys will face their toughest test of the nonconference on Thursday.

Oklahoma State hosts No. 15 Creighton as part of the Big 12-Big East Battle. OSU coach Mike Boynton met with reporters Tuesday to preview the matchup. Here are three topics that stood out.

Injury Updates

The Cowboys have yet to play a game this season at full strength.

The year started with Javon Small, Jamyron Keller and Isaiah Miranda on the shelf. Small and Keller have since emphatically returned, but Bryce Thompson went down with an apparent leg injury during the Cowboys’ trip to Brooklyn.

It looks like OSU could get Thompson back Thursday, though. Boynton said Thompson practiced on Monday and that he was “trending toward being available” for Thursday’s game. Thompson is OSU’s leader in points per game this season, averaging 14.3. That includes a game where he played just a single minute in the second half before exiting with injury. He has shot 50% from the field and 50% from 3-point range.

After suffering a hip injury in OSU’s exhibition, Miranda — a 7-foot-1 unicorn from Rhode Island — was supposed to make his college debut against New Orleans on Nov. 20, but he stepped on a foot in pregame shootaround and suffered an ankle injury. Boynton said an MRI showed nothing was wrong structurally with the ankle, but he said Tuesday that Miranda hadn’t started practicing yet, listing the big man as doubtful.

Small’s Film Study

Javon Small has been outstanding in the start of his OSU career.

A transfer point guard from East Carolina, Small has averaged 14 points a game while leading the team with 28 assists. He has spearheaded a revamped OSU offense that has seen the Cowboys have 103 assists to 69 turnovers through six games. In their first six games last season, the Cowboys had 89 assists and 89 turnovers through six games.

Small is averaging 5.6 assists a game thus far this season. For reference, no player under Boynton has averaged more than 4.5 assists in a season (Isaac Likekele in 2019-20). In watching him, you can tell he sees the game different than most — something that he and Boynton said has to do with his film study.

“One thing to watch a kid on tape, even another thing to coach him in practice and in games — but it’s a whole different thing to watch how a kid functions as a player, as a student of the game,” Boynton said. “Probably as much as any kid I’ve ever coached, he constantly sends me video from practice or from other games that he’s watching, ideas that he thinks maybe could work for us. That’s always good when you’ve got a guy who is certainly always thinking about the game, even moreso watching it and trying to learn how to get better. So I think that’s what makes him a little bit unique.

“It’s not as common anymore, that, kids being as engaged with the game outside of playing it and practicing it, unfortunately. But he’s one of the few that are.”

Trey Alexander Returns to Oklahoma

Creighton guard Trey Alexander will return to Oklahoma this weekend.

Out of Heritage Hall, Alexander was a four-star recruit in the 2021 class, initially inking a letter of intent with Auburn before enrolling with the Bluejays. He has made 56 starts with Creighton over the past three years. As a junior this season, Alexander is averaging 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists a game — all career-highs.

Oklahoma State was the first program to offer Alexander a scholarship, but he chose to carve his path outside of the state’s borders.

It’s early in the season, but Alexander is in some mock drafts (including this one from Kyle Boone) as a first round pick.

“I watched Trey Alexander as a freshman in high school probably play as good of a high school game as a freshman that I’ve ever seen,” Boynton said. “I watched him in the state championship game in 2018, and I think his team was down like 15 points going into the fourth quarter. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a 14 or 15 year old literally will his team to a state championship the way he did that day. Quite impressive, obviously.

“Comes from a big basketball lineage. He’s been committed to the game for a long time. Not surprise that he’s had the type of success that he’s been able to have and that he’s getting the attention he’s getting.”

Coaching is all about getting the most out of your team, and it’s hard to argue with Mike Gundy’s results this season.

Gundy on Wednesday was named the 2023 Chuck Neinas Big 12 Coach of the Year after leading the Cowboys from a 2-2 start to the Big 12 championship game.

It’s the third time Gundy has earned the honor, winning it in 2010 and then in 2021, the last time OSU made it to Arlington. He joins Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Bill Snyder (Kansas State) and Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) as three-time winners. In 19 seasons, Gundy is 165-78, ranking him sixth among active FBS coaches in wins.

After the Cowboys’ loss to South Alabama and then Iowa State in consecutive weeks, some thought Gundy’s 17-year bowl streak was in danger. But the Cowboys settled in at QB with Alan Bowman and handed the rock to Ollie Gordon, and the rest was history. OSU finished the regular season 7-1 including a win over OU in the final Bedlam on the books and punched its ticket to Arlington with a historic comeback win over BYU on Saturday.

In the same press release, Ollie Gordon II was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team selection. Also on the first team was linebacker Nickolas Martin. Martin is the conference’s leading tackler and was an honorable mention for Defensive Player of the Year, which went to Texas’ T’Vondre Sweat.

On the all-conference second team were Cowboy wide receiver Brennan Presley, linebacker Collin Oliver and kicker Alex Hale.

Several Cowboys were named All-Big 12 honorable mention: Korie Black (DB), Alan Bowman (QB), Braden Cassity (FB), Dalton Cooper (OL), Kendal Daniels (DB), Cameron Epps (DRoy), Anthony Goodlow (DNoY, DLoY, DL), Alex Hale (STPoY), Josiah Johnson (ONoY, TE), Nickolas Martin (DPoY), Joe Michalski (OLoY, OL), Rashod Owens (WR), Brennan Presley (KR/PR) and Jake Springfield (OL).

2023 Big 12 Yearly Awards

Offensive Player of the Year: Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State, RB
Defensive Player of the Year: T’Vondre Sweat, Texas, DL
Offensive Newcomer of the Year: Adonai Mitchell, Texas, WR
Defensive Newcomer of the Year: Austin Booker, Kansas, DL
Offensive Freshman of the Year: Rocco Becht, Iowa State, QB
Defensive Freshman of the Year: Anthony Hill Jr., Texas, LB and Ben Roberts, Texas Tech, LB
Special Teams Player of the Year: Austin McNamara, Texas Tech, P
Offensive Lineman of the Year: Cooper Beebe, Kansas State
Defensive Lineman of the Year: Byron Murphy II, Texas
Chuck Neinas Coach of the Year: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State

All-Big 12 First Team

QB — Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma
RB — Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State
RB — Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech
FB — Ben Sinnott, Kansas State
WR — Javon Baker, UCF
WR — Drake Stoops, Oklahoma
WR — Xavier Worthy, Texas
TE — Jared Wiley, TCU
TE — Ja’Tavion Sanders, Texas
OL — Dominick Puni, Kansas
OL — Cooper Beebe, Kansas State
OL — Patrick Paul, Houston
OL — Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas
OL — Zach Frazier, West Virginia
PK — Bert Auburn, Texas
KR/PR — Xavier Worthy, Texas
DL — Tre’mon Morris-Brash, UCF
DL — Nelson Ceaser, Houston
DL — Austin Booker, Kansas
DL — Byron Murphy II, Texas
DL — T’Vondre Sweat, Texas
LB — Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma
LB — Nickolas Martin, Oklahoma State
LB — Jaylan Ford, Texas
DB — Jeremiah Cooper, Iowa State
DB — T.J. Tampa, Iowa State
DB — Cobee Bryant, Kansas
DB — Billy Bowman, Oklahoma
DB — Beanie Bishop Jr., West Virginia
P — Austin McNamara, Texas Tech

All-Big 12 Second Team

QB — Will Howard, Kansas State
RB — Devin Neal, Kansas
RB — Jonathan Brooks, Texas
FB — Stevo Klotz, Iowa State
WR — Jaylin Noel, Iowa State
WR — Brennan Presley, Oklahoma State
WR — Adonai Mitchell, Texas
TE — Kole Taylor, West Virginia
OL — Kingsley Suamataia, BYU
OL — Luke Kandra, Cincinnati
OL — Andrew Raym, Oklahoma
OL — Brandon Coleman, TCU
OL — Wyatt Milum, West Virginia
PK — Alex Hale, Oklahoma State
KR/PR — Matthew Golden, Houston
DL — Tyler Batty, BYU
DL — Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati
DL — Jamaree Caldwell, Houston
DL — Khalid Duke, Kansas State
DL — Ethan Downs, Oklahoma
LB — Jason Johnson, UCF
LB — Austin Moore, Kansas State
LB — Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State
DB — Kenny Logan Jr., Kansas
DB — Kobe Savage, Kansas State
DB — Josh Newton, TCU
DB — Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, Texas Tech
DB — Jahdae Barron, Texas
P — Ryan Rehkow, BYU

For the third time since the league’s inception, Oklahoma State has a Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

Ollie Gordon, a sophomore running back, picked up the honor Wednesday. He joins Justin Blackmon (2010) and Chuba Hubbard (2019) as the only Cowboys to earn the award that has been given out since 1996. Gordon leads the nation in rushing this season with 1,580 yards while scoring 20 rushing touchdowns. Also a threat in the passing game, Gordon has 272 receiving yards and another touchdown through the air.

Named one of three Doak Walker finalists on Tuesday, Gordon has ran for at least 120 yards in eight games this season. He had back to back games of 282 yards and 271 yards against West Virginia and Cincinnati, respectively. He has ran for multiple touchdowns in five games this season, including a four-touchdown performance against the Mountaineers and a five-touchdown performance against BYU this past Saturday.

His week-in, week-out performances have earned Gordon the right to be in the same breath with Barry Sanders. Gordon and Sanders are the only Cowboy players to run for 250 yards in back-to-back weeks. And Gordon and Sanders are the only OSU players to run for five touchdowns in a game (something Sanders did three times).

All of this comes after Gordon had just 19 carries through OSU’s three nonconference games.

In Big 12 play alone, Gordon has 1,471 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns. That’s 296 more yards than second-place Tahj Brooks and six more touchdowns than RJ Harvey and Garrett Greene, who are tied in second with 12. In Big 12 play, Gordon has rushed for more yards than five Big 12 teams and more touchdowns than seven Big 12 teams.

Entering the Big 12 Championship, Gordon’s 1,580-yard season ranks ninth in program history. In nine games as the Cowboys’ bell-cow back, Gordon has averaged 163.4 yards a game. If he averaged that over OSU’s final two games, he’d finish with about 1,907 yards, which would rank third in program history behind Sanders (2,850 in 1988) and Hubbard (2,094 in 2019) — all while playing sparingly during the first three games.

Gordon came to Stillwater as a four-star prospect out of Euless-Trinity (TX). He chose OSU over offers from Texas, Michigan, Arkansas, Nebraska, TCU and others. As a true freshman in 2022, Gordon carried 62 times for 308 yards and two touchdowns. His best game last season came in OSU’s regular-season finale against West Virginia, where Gordon carried 17 times for 136 yards and a touchdown.

He becomes the program’s eighth conference offensive player of the year overall. Pre-Big 12, Terry Miller won Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year in 1976 and 1977. Thurman Thomas won Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year in 1985 and 1987. Sanders won Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year in 1988.

Kobe Black, the younger brother of Oklahoma State corner Korie Black, released a top five in August that didn’t include the Cowboys, but as signing day draws near, the Pokes are still in the running.

Black will announce his college decision Dec. 13, according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett, and Black updated his top five to Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Oregon and LSU. That decision will come just a week before the early signing period opens.

Black is a consensus four-star recruit. He is the No. 35 player in the 247Sports Composite rating. His 0.9820 Composite score would make him the second-highest rated commit in program history if he chose OSU, according to 247Sports, behind only Bobby Reid. OSU was the first Division-I program to offer Black a scholarship.

Black was initially set to pick a program on Wednesday before delaying that announcement. Texas seems to be the leader in the clubhouse, as four people from 247Sports, five people from Rivals and five people from On3 all predicting Black to wear burnt orange. But it doesn’t appear the Cowboys have given up in the fight, just as they didn’t when they weren’t among his initial top group in August.

He has spent a ton of time in Stillwater this season watching Korie, including being at the Cowboys’ 40-34 double-overtime win against BYU to clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game. He was also in Boone Pickens Stadium to see the Cowboys beat Oklahoma in the final Bedlam game. Korie is a senior this season, but he still has a year of eligibility remaining because of the pandemic should he choose to use it.

Korie came to OSU as a three-star prospect, the No. 560 player in his class and has developed into one of the best corners in the Big 12. This season teams have thrown at Korie 33 times resulting in just 14 completions for 216 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was a funky 75-yard play in the rain at UCF. Among Big 12 corners with at least 260 coverage snaps this season, Korie’s 42.4% completion percentage allowed ranks second in the conference, while his 216 yards given up ranks third.

All that is to say that Korie has developed into a great corner in Stillwater.

OSU has three defensive backs committed in the 2024 cycle: Landyn Cleveland, David Kabongo and Willie Nelson. Texas has four DBs committed this cycle. The Cowboys’ class ranks 51st nationally, as of writing. If Black committed, it would bump the Pokes up to 41st nationally.

It’s no secret, Oklahoma State will run the football against Texas at the Big 12 Championship game Saturday. Or at least try.

“I think at this point, I would guess their coaches know we’re gonna do what we do, and I’m gonna say that for the most part, they’re gonna do what they do,” Mike Gundy said at Monday’s news conference. “We’re in Week 13 and there’s not a lot of changes that are gonna take place over a two-day preparation. There won’t be for us. I don’t think there’s any secret to it.”

The Cowboys have to succeed on the ground to find success everywhere else, whether it’s on a normal Saturday or for a conference title. And whether it’s against the worst rushing defense in the Big 12 or the best. OSU gets both ends of that in back-to-back weeks. Texas has the best run defense in the conference, while last week’s opponent, BYU, had one of the worst entering its last game against OSU.

The Cougars were giving up 177.3 rushing yards a game before Saturday. The Cowboys still struggled running out of the gate, though, and trailed 24-6 at halftime, failing to even reach the end zone. But when OSU’s run game got going, that 18-point deficit started to fade and the Pokes prevailed 40-34 in two overtimes. Every touchdown the Cowboys scored were rushing scores from Ollie Gordon, who also ran for 166 yards.

“Ollie Gordon is a heck of a player, and they have done a great job offensively of leaning into him,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He really signifies who their team is. …

“And they’ve got a variety of run schemes with him. They do a heck of a job out of the pistol formation where they can get to all their runs, and a lot of them look the same. Your defensive line, your linebackers have to do a great job of fitting those things. Then you’ve gotta tackle. Generally with a guy like him, one guy is not enough, so our ability to populate the ball Saturday and making sure we’re fitting these runs right is gonna be really critical.”

Gundy has the benefit of Gordon — a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, given to the best running back in the country. But Sarkisian has a not-so-secret weapon, as well. Actually, a few of them.

Texas’ front, led by T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, has catapulted the Longhorns as one of the best run defenses in the country. Texas is giving up 85 rushing yards a game, which is fourth-best in college football. For comparison, OSU is averaging 167.4 rushing yards a game.

The Longhorns held their opponents under 100 rushing yards for five straight games before Texas Tech tallied 110 last week. OSU lost both games it rushed for less than 100 yards in against South Alabama and UCF.

Sweat and Murphy’s statures are even more intimidating than the stats. Sweat, an Outland Trophy finalist, stands at 6-foot-4 and 362 pounds. Murphy is 6-foot-1, 308 pounds. Those frames are raising more eyebrows than usual with Texas’ impending move to the SEC, which is known for its monstrous defensive fronts throughout.

“Texas has always had that,” Gundy said. “We’ve played them for years. They’ve got ends that are 30 pounds heavier than most people’s ends and they got inside guys that are 20 pounds heavier than most people’s inside guys.”

So with that experience, how do you control that front and give Gordon space to run? Because if you do find a way to run the ball, it could result in a conference title considering OU is the only team to take down Texas this season and ran for a season-high 201 yards against the Longhorns.

“Well you can double-team them some,” Gundy said. “You can let the widest guy go and double-team them and let that guy try to run and make a tackle.

“And we can do what we’ve done the last 15 years, which is block them. See, you gotta block a three technique, not necessarily a three technique that has that uniform on, but you can block them.”

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State plays No. 15 Creighton at 8 p.m. Thursday in Gallagher-Iba Arena as part of the Big 12-Big East Battle. Mike Boynton, Brandon Garrison and Javon Small met with reporters Tuesday before the Cowboys’ practice to preview the matchup.

The Cowboys got a bump after a historic comeback in a must-win.

Oklahoma State was this close to missing out on the Big 12 Championship but stormed back from an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat the Cougars and punch their ticket to Arlington. For their efforts, the Cowboys moved up two spots from No. 20 to 18 in the penultimate College Football Rankings.

Big 12 Repping

Texas remains at No. 7, at the edge of a logjam vying for playoff spots, just behind Ohio State. The Buckeyes lost to rival Michigan, causing all teams head of the Longhorns to shuffle up a spot.

Kansas State hangs in there at 25, despite losing to unranked Iowa State. The Wildcats fell out of both of the AP and Coaches polls after the upset. This is significant because it should help Texas (which beat K-State 33-30) should they have chance to leapfrog into the Final Four. To a lesser extent, it should help OSU and Missouri, both of which defeated the Wildcats.

Oklahoma climbed one spot to 12th, a consolation after winning a shootout with TCU. The Sooners are staying in Norman this weekend thanks to OSU’s double-OT win and will wait for Sunday’s rankings and their bowl assignment.

Here’s a look at the full CFP rankings, compared to the other two major polls.

Steve Sarkisian has a chance to do something that hasn’t been done since 2009: lead Texas to a Big 12 title.

Oklahoma State plays Texas at 11 a.m. Saturday in AT&T Stadium for the conference crown. Sarkisian, in his third year with the Longhorns, met with the media Monday to preview the matchup. Here are five things that stood out from an OSU perspective. His full news conference is below.

Sark Talks Gordon

It’s hard to talk Oklahoma State football in 2023 without talking about Ollie Gordon.

A sophomore running back, Gordon is the nation’s leading rusher with 1,580 yards. He is second in the country in rushing touchdowns with 20 — running for five against BYU to punch the Cowboys’ ticket to Arlington. He was named a Doak Walker finalist Tuesday and appears, statistically, to have the inside track at that piece of hardware.

The Texas staff would have also been somewhat familiar with Gordon as a prospect. Out of Euless Trinity High School, Gordon got a Texas offer shortly before the early signing period as a high school senior before electing to stand firm in his commitment to OSU.

“Ollie Gordon is a heck of a player, and they have done a great job offensively of leaning into him,” Sarkisian said. “He really signifies who their team is. I feel like he gets stronger as the game goes on, like a lot of big, physical backs do. A lot of his best runs come in the second half when teams wear down. He has the hard yards, the tough yards in between the tackles, but yet he has the big play, explosive play ability to create those long runs.

“And they’ve got a variety of run schemes with him. They do a heck of a job out of the pistol formation where they can get to all their runs, and a lot of them look the same. Your defensive line, your linebackers have to do a great job of fitting those things. Then you’ve gotta tackle. Generally with a guy like him, one guy is not enough, so our ability to populate the ball Saturday and making sure we’re fitting these runs right is gonna be really critical.”

Ewers Facing Cowboys after Rough Outing in BPS Last Season

Before the Cowboys’ 2022 season took a nosedive, they were 6-1 after beating Texas 41-34 in Boone Pickens Stadium.

That’s a game most of the Longhorn faithful will want to forget about, but that is particularly the case for Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers. The former five-star prospect completed just 39% of his passes that day and threw three interceptions. That’s the most amount of interceptions and the lowest completion percentage Ewers has had in a game in his career. It is one of only two games in his career he has completed fewer than 50% of his passes, and it’s one of only two games he has thrown multiple interceptions in.

“Games like that are part of the growing pains of playing the position,” Sarkisian said. “When you get on the road and you get in a hostile environment and early on things are going your way, and then things start not going your way for a variety of reasons. In that game, we had a couple opportunities for some big plays, and we didn’t pass protect very well for him. Then we had a couple opportunities for some big plays, we didn’t catch the ball very well for him. Then all a sudden he misses a couple throws, and those types of things can snowball on you.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve learned, and I think Quinn has learned, that I’ve learned about him is his demeanor. When things at times this year haven’t gone great, for example the interception Friday night when he was trying to hit the fade to (Adonai) Mitchell, I thought his poise, his composure really showed through and he was able to come right back and still execute at a high level. A year ago, it might’ve been more of a challenge to rebound from that type of a play. I think he’s learning how to respond to those things.”

Texas Injury Update

The Longhorns could be light in the defensive backfield Saturday.

Sarkisian said defensive backs Ryan Watts and Austin Jordan are questionable for Saturday’s game. Watts has 10 starts at corner this season but went down on the first play in Texas’ game against Texas Tech last week. Jordan is a depth piece at safety, having played just 21 snaps this season, according to PFF.

Xavier Worthy, a star receiver for the Longhorns, got banged up against Tech, but Sarkisian said Worthy is “good to go.” Backup quarterback Maalik Murphy had a freak injury against Tech, as well, leading to the college debut of Arch Manning. Should the Longhorns need a backup quarterback Saturday, though, it sounds like Murphy will be back, as Sarkisian said he practiced Monday.

‘They’re Capable of Being a Very Dangerous Team’

Not many can make sense of the Cowboys’ wacky season.

From falling to South Alabama and starting the year 2-2 to ripping off five wins and beating Oklahoma just to lose by 42 to UCF — it’s been bonkers.

It doesn’t sound like Sarkisian can make sense of it either, but he said the highs of OSU’s season shows what the Cowboys are capable of.

“It is unique, but then you turn around and you think they beat, I know I can rattle off three really good teams in Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma — bang, bang bang, right in a row,” Sarkisian said. “And we played all three of those teams and didn’t win all three of those games. So I know the quality of opponents that they are. I don’t know the exact answer why, but I know what they’re capable of. They’re capable of being a very dangerous team and one that can play at a very high level and match the opponent and the quality of the opponent. Those wins were very impressive to me.”

High Praise for the OSU Linebackers

OSU’s defense has gone through quite the transition in its first year under defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo.

The group is young on the backend. The defensive line has some older guys on it, but many entered the year new to a heavy snap load. The strength of the unit, though, resides in the middle with linebackers Nickolas Martin, Collin Oliver and Xavier Benson.

Martin leads the Big 12 in total tackles with 120 on the year. Martin and Oliver are tied for a team lead in sacks with six apiece, with Oliver adding 68 total tackles. Benson, on the other hand, does a lot of the unrecognized dirty work for the Cowboys’ defense. He has 56 tackles on the year.

“I think the one area that jumps out to me is their linebacking corps,” Sarkisian said. “I think it’s probably the best one we’ve faced all year. They’ve got three very, very good linebackers who impact the game. They rush the quarterback extremely well. They tackle really well. They force turnovers really well. They fly around the field. Those three guys — Oliver, Benson, Martin — they’re big-time players. Everything they do defensively is kind of structured around those three guys impacting the game. Very impressed by them.”