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OSU Bullets

“Mike Gundy is known for pulling rabbits out of hats, but his 2023 edition might have been the craziest yet,” Lindy Davis writes on Oklahoma State. “After losing 33-7 to South Alabama, the Cowboys sprang to life and rode Ollie Gordon II all the way to the Big 12 Championship Game. In a post-Sooners world, Gundy’s squad is the dean of Big 12 programs.” [GoPokes 247]

Next up in our Transfer Portal commit breakdown series is Trent Howland. We will take a look at the former Indiana Running Back in the next several posts #okstate

— Feels Like 45 Podcast (@FeelsLike45Pod) May 30, 2024

Non-OSU Bullets

“Three ways to learn something new:

1. Reflect on what you have already tried.
2. Attempt something you have not tried.
3. Read about what someone else has tried.”

The Cowboys return the guy at running back in the 2024 college football season, and Oklahoma State has put a handful of interesting pieces around him.

This offseason I’m pondering on three questions for each of OSU’s position groups. Wednesday we looked at the Cowboys’ QB room. Now we’ll take a look at Ollie Gordon’s running back room.

1. Can Ollie Do It Again?

OSU fans were already intrigued with Gordon when he was a jumbo, four-star running back in the DFW area who turned down a late Texas offer to stick with his Oklahoma State commitment. That intrigue only grew when Gordon ran for 136 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries against West Virginia as a true freshman. But after his 2023 season, Stillwater’s secret is out. The nation knows of Gordon’s prowess.

Gordon ran for 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns as a sophomore on his way to winning the Doak Walker. And that came after he had just 19 total carries in the Cowboys’ three nonconference games. He’ll have a chance at an encore in 2024.

There are similarities in Gordon returning after a big season to Chuba Hubbard doing the same in 2020, but there are also differences.

Hubbard rushed for 2,094 yards and 21 touchdowns in a breakout 2019 season before a return in 2020 didn’t go exactly according to plan. Hubbard was hobbled with injuries that season and so was his offensive line. Oh, and it was in the middle of a pandemic.

Hubbard, more known for his speed, was also less physically imposing than Gordon is, so perhaps Gordon will be better suited to handle the load for a second straight season.

2. What Will the Carry Distribution Be Like?

With that being said, Mike Gundy this spring talked about the importance of getting Gordon some rest in 2024.

“We have a lot of carries for another back,” Gundy said. “The 30 carry a game for Ollie is somewhat concerning. Perfect world would be 20 to keep him healthy throughout for us and his career. He had to carry the load last year, moreso than what we’d like. There’s enough carries to go around.”

Initially, it looked as if Arkansas transfer AJ Green would be the guy to relieve Gordon before Green posted on Instagram that he had suffered some sort of leg injury. That happened just about the time that OSU added Indiana transfer Trent Howland. The room also features Sesi Vailahi, who turned some heads in limited work as a true freshman last season, and the Cowboys added Rodney Fields and Jaden Allen-Hendrix from the 2024 recruiting class.

Howland, at this point, seems the most likely to be Gordon’s RB2 as the season gets going. He rushed for 354 yards and a pair of scores for the Hoosiers this past season. At 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, he adds a bigger crack of thunder to Gordon’s already booming thunder. Should Green get back healthy, he would add the lightning.

It’s a shame Elijah Collins had to battle through injuries last season because that might’ve provided a clearer picture of what we could expect this season. But instead we’ll have to wait and see how the Cowboys plan on feeding their superstar while also keeping him as rested as possible.

Lightening Gordon’s load leads to my final question.

3. What Does the Future of the Room Look Like?

If 2024 Ollie Gordon shares much of a semblance of 2023 Ollie Gordon, it wouldn’t be crazy to think he heads for the NFL after this season. Fox Sports, for example, has him as the No. 10 pick in a way-too-early mock draft.

Projecting the future of any position group on any team could be a pointless exercise in the transfer portal era, but I’ll try my best.

Green should have just one season of eligibility remaining, but he also has a redshirt. Should his injury keep him out for an extended period of time, there is a chance he could be in Stillwater in 2025.

Howland should have two seasons of eligibility remaining — meaning he could play this season and return for 2025.

Vailahi has four years left after playing in three games and redshirting last season, and Fields and Allen-Hendrix obviously also have four seasons (and redshirts) to play.

Gordon would leave some big shoes to fill, but right now the Cowboys are in a good spot to potentially have five scholarship backs return in 2025 even if Gordon leaves for the NFL. But with that said, it’s tough to say who would slot in where because the only one to take a carry in an OSU uniform to this point is Vailahi, who had just six carries as a true freshman.

A quartet of kick times for the Cowboys’ 2024 season have been announced.

The Big 12 on Thursday released kick times for select games, featuring four for the Cowboys (all times are Central):

Arkansas at Oklahoma State — 11 a.m. Sept. 7 on ABC
Oklahoma State at Tulsa — 11 a.m. Sept. 14 on ESPN2
Oklahoma State at BYU — 9:15 p.m. Oct. 18 on ESPN
Oklahoma State at Colorado — 11 a.m. Nov. 29 on ABC

The conference also made note that OSU’s season-opener against South Dakota State (Aug. 31) will be on ESPN+, but it’s the only opening-weekend date in the league without a kick time yet. The remaining kick times will be announced in a 12-day or six-day window.

Oklahoma State enters the 2024 season with momentum. The Cowboys return a majority of its production from last season, a season in which OSU went 10-4 and made an appearance in the Big 12 title game. The Big 12 title game this season is set for Dec. 7 on ABC but doesn’t yet have a kick time.

Here is the full list of kick times and TV listings the Big 12 released on Thursday:

Thursday, August 29
New Hampshire at UCF (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 7:00 p.m. ET
North Dakota State at Colorado (ESPN), 6:00 p.m. MDT
Lindenwood at Kansas (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 7:00 p.m. CT
Southern Utah at Utah (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 7:00 p.m. MDT

Friday, August 30
TCU at Stanford (ESPN), 9:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, August 31
Penn State West Virginia (FOX), Noon ET
North Dakota at Iowa State (FS1), 2:30 p.m. CT
Towson at Cincinnati (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 2:30 p.m. ET
Tarleton State at Baylor (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m. CT
UNLV at Houston (FS1), 6:00 p.m. CT
UT Martin at K-State (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m. CT
Abilene Christian at Texas Tech (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:30 p.m. CT
Southern Illinois at BYU (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m. MDT
New Mexico at Arizona (ESPN), 7:30 p.m. MST
Wyoming at Arizona State (FS1), 7:30 p.m. MST
South Dakota State at Oklahoma State (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), TBD

Friday, September 6
BYU at SMU (ESPN2), 5:00 p.m. MDT

Saturday, September 7
Arkansas at Oklahoma State (ABC), 11:00 a.m. CT
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (ESPN or ESPN2), Noon ET
K-State at Tulane (ESPN or ESPN2), 11:00 a.m. CT
Baylor at Utah (FOX), 2:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. MDT
Iowa State at Iowa (CBS), 2:30 p.m. CT
Albany at West Virginia (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m. ET
Sam Houston at UCF (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:30 p.m. ET
Kansas at Illinois (FS1), 6:00 p.m. CT
Colorado at Nebraska (NBC), 5:30 p.m. MDT
Houston at Oklahoma (SEC Network), 6:45 p.m. CT
Long Island at TCU (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 7:00 p.m. CT
Texas Tech at Washington State (FOX), 9:00 p.m. CT
Northern Arizona at Arizona (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 7:00 p.m. MST
Mississippi State at Arizona State (ESPN), 7:30 p.m. MST

Thursday, September 12
Arizona State at Texas State (ESPN), 4:30 p.m. MST

Friday, September 13
UNLV at Kansas (ESPN), 6:00 p.m. CT
Arizona at K-State (FOX), 7:00 p.m. CT/5:00 p.m. MST

Saturday, September 14
Oklahoma State at Tulsa (ESPN2), 11:00 a.m. CT
North Texas at Texas Tech (FS1), 11:00 a.m. CT
Cincinnati at Miami (Ohio) (ESPNU), Noon ET
West Virginia at Pittsburgh (ESPN or ESPN2), 3:30 p.m. ET
Utah at Utah State (CBSSN), 2:30 MDT
UCF at TCU* (FOX), 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT
Air Force at Baylor (FS1), 6:30 p.m. CT
Rice at Houston (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 7:00 p.m. CT
Colorado at Colorado State (CBS), 5:30 MDT
BYU at Wyoming (CBSSN), 7:00 p.m. MDT

Saturday, September 21
Arkansas State at Iowa State (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 1:00 p.m. CT

Friday, October 4
Houston at TCU* (ESPN), 6:30 p.m. CT

Friday, October 11
Utah at Arizona State* (ESPN), 8:30 p.m. MDT/7:30 p.m. MST

Friday, October 18
Oklahoma State at BYU* (ESPN), 9:15 p.m. CT/8:15 p.m. MDT

Friday, November 15
Houston at Arizona* (FS1), 9:15 p.m. CT/8:15 p.m. MST

Friday, November 29
Oklahoma State at Colorado* (ABC), 11:00 a.m. CT/10:00 a.m. MST
Utah at UCF* (FOX), 8:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. MST

Saturday, December 7
Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship (ABC)

The Cowgirls picked up another pair of All-America accolades on Wednesday.

The NFCA named Oklahoma State pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl a First Team All-American, while Liberty transfer catcher Caroline Wang was named a Third Team All-American.

This is already the third All-America honor Kilfoyl has picked up, after D1 Softball and Softball America put her on their First Teams earlier this week. Among the myriad other accolades she has picked up this season, Kilfoyl was also the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and a finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award.

Kilfoyl is 26-3 this season with a 1.06 ERA and 146 strikeouts to just 30 walks. She earned wins in all five of the Cowgirls’ NCAA Tournament games to this point, throwing 28 of the 33 innings in OSU’s Regional and Super Regional. She gave up just four runs off 17 hits in those games while striking out 27 and walking one.

After a successful stint at Liberty that saw her earn ASUN Player of the Year honors the past two seasons, Wang transferred to Stillwater this offseason and has provided the Cowgirls a reliable bat from the catcher spot.

Wang is hitting a team-best .380 on the season. She also leads the Cowgirls in hits (68), home runs (17) and RBIs (51). She is hitting .467 in the postseason.

Kilfoyl, Wang and the Cowgirls are set to start their WCWS journey at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Oklahoma City with a game against Florida.

STILLWATER — The Cowboys haven’t made it past the Regional round of the NCAA Tournament since 2019, but there are some parallels shaping up between that 2019 season and this one.

Oklahoma State earned the 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host Nebraska, Florida and Niagara for Regional play this weekend at O’Brate Stadium. OSU’s first game of the Regional comes at 6 p.m. Friday against Niagara.

The Cowboys are coming off a Big 12 Tournament win … for the first time since 2019 when OSU last made it to a Super Regional.

Like the 2019 conference tournament, the 2024 Big 12 tourney had some funky start times for the Pokes. OSU’s first three games in Arlington all started after 8:30 p.m. with the latest of those starting at 9:40 p.m. Back in the 2019 tournament in Oklahoma City, OSU opened with back-to-back games that started past 8:30 p.m., the latest coming at 9:45 p.m.

The Cowboys earned the 9 seed in the national tournament in 2019, which allowed them to host, but standing water in the outfield at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium meant OSU had to host the Regional at Bricktown. So, the Pokes essentially moved to Oklahoma City, spending back-to-back weeks there.

This 2024 group has gone through something similar. Ahead of the Big 12 Tournament, OSU closed out its regular season with a series in Houston that got cut down to two games because of weather. OSU went straight from Houston up to Arlington for the conference tournament, meaning the Cowboys were away from Stillwater for 12 days.

Although that couldn’t have been easy, it allowed this group to spend a ton of time together. Starting pitcher Sam Garcia mentioned OSU’s Buc-ee’s trips while in the Lone Star State were a lot of fun. He also said there was a lot of MLB The Show being played in the hotel among groups of players and that the team got together for some workouts at the pool.

“Fabulous for comradery,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “Time spent together, isolated with one another, secluded and removed from some of the distractions, meals together, late bus rides together, funny moments, things you’ll never forget, funny sounds being made from the bullpen and the dugout. To go on a road trip like we did for 12 days and play in a couple of different sites and venues, it’s just time together and trust.

“You learn how to motivate yourself even if the externals aren’t there. I think that was really good for us, and I think these kids are really enjoying one another’s time. Just create that same type of close-nit focus here back at home this week.”

Another parallel this postseason has to 2019 is that Nebraska is in OSU’s Regional. The Cornhuskers were a part of an electric OSU moment in that Regional, as Trevor Boone stepped to the plate with two on in the ninth inning with the Cowboys down two runs. Boone was the Big 12’s leader in home runs that season, and when he got up to the plate, it was as if everyone in the stadium knew he was going to hit another. He did. Then he let rip a bat toss that could be rivaled by only Sam Show.

THREE
RUN
BOMB

Oklahoma State takes the lead!! #RoadToOmaha | @OSUBaseball pic.twitter.com/b8fba5FfAl

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 2, 2019

OSU ended up losing to Texas Tech in three games in the 2019 Super Regional round and haven’t gotten that far since, but with as hot as this team finished the regular season and how hot they’ve stayed through some late nights in the postseason, it’d be tough to put a cap on what this group could achieve.