It was apparently list cutting day for the 2026 class.

In short succession, three prospects announced they had trimmed their lists and included Oklahoma State in their top groups. Two were in-state prospects who will both announce their commitments on Saturday. The other is a quarterback with in-state ties who will commit Aug. 12.

Here is a quick look at each prospect.

Colton Yarbrough

A four-star prospect from Durant, Yarbrough cut his deep list of offers down to five: Oklahoma State, Georgia, Arkansas, Colorado and LSU. He also announced that he would make a commitment at 5 p.m. Saturday.

He is the No. 211 player in 247Sports’ 2026 Composite ranking. 247 and Rivals each list Yarbrough as the top prospect in the state of Oklahoma, with each listing him as a four-star prospect.

As well as offers to his top five, Yarbrough also announced offers to Miami, Kansas State, Michigan State, Oregon, Tennessee, USC and others before the cut.

Listed at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, Yarbrough announced OSU offered back in March. Although recruiting sites list him as an edge rusher, he actually played both sides of the ball as a sophomore at Durant last season, also playing tight end. Defensively, he played both standing up and with his hand in the ground at times.

Adam Auston

Out of Lawton, Adam Auston also trimmed his list down to five: Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Baylor, Missouri and Kansas State. He will also announce where he is headed Saturday.

Playing at Lawton MacArthur, Auston is a 6-1, 200-pound safety. He comes in as the No. 395 player in 247Sports’ 2026 Composite rankings. 247 lists him as the No. 4 player from the state.

He announced his OSU offer back in March and also had offers to Texas Tech, Washington State, Iowa State, Houston and others before cutting down his list.

He put up 92 tackles as a sophomore in 2023, adding five tackles for loss, four pass breakups, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

Jackson Presley

A 6-foot-2 quarterback playing in Montana, Jackson Presley cut his list to three: Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Boise State. He’ll announce his commitment Aug. 12.

He’s the No. 478 player in the Composite ranking, which makes him the No. 41 quarterback in the class and the No. 2 player from Montana. He also announced offers to Florida State, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Texas A&M and others before trimming his list.

Playing at Glacier High School in Kalispell, Montana, Presley completed 66% of his 288 pass attempts as a sophomore last season, throwing for 3,053 yards and 28 touchdowns to only four interceptions. He also ran for 69 yards and another four scores. Glacier finished the year 10-2, falling to Bozeman in the Montana Class AA state final.

Presley has ties to Oklahoma. He is the son of actor and director Brian Presley and spent his freshman season at Jenks.

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Oklahoma State will finish off its regular season against the Big 12’s prodigal program.

The Cowboys will head to Boulder to face Colorado for their 2024 season finale. While their matchup with the Buffaloes is slotted for an 11 a.m. kick Friday on ABC, the coaching matchup is Primetime. (That’s the last pun, I promise.)

As we put a bow on our Summer Schedule Series, be sure you catch up on any you missed: Noncon | Utah | K-State | West Virginia | BYU | Baylor | TCU | Texas Tech

Week 14: Colorado | Nov. 29 | Boulder, Colorado

Series History: 20-26-1

Though the Pokes are still behind in the series historically, OSU has won the last three meetings against CU. With the former Big 8/Big 12 foes coming back into the fold, we can restart the in-conference record between the two. It currently sits at 19-24-1.

Last Meeting: OSU 38, Colorado 8 (2016 Alamo Bowl)

Behind its emerging Big 3 of Mason Rudolph, James Washington and Justice Hill, OSU routed Colorado 38-8, tamping down any incoming hyperbole about the Buffaloes’ vaunted secondary. Rudolph threw for 314 yards and three scores, and Washington capped his All-Big 12 season with 171 yards and a TD on nine catches. Hill added 107 yards and a score of his own.

Colorado in 2023: The hype was real, until it wasn’t?

Colorado did, in fact, race off to a 3-0 start with wins over TCU, fresh off its national championship game appearance, and Nebraska. But, as we learned, that TCU team was not the same one that beat Michigan in the CFP, and neither of those two made a bowl game. But there were still plenty to be excited about. Shedeur Sanders did, for instance, throw for 500-plus yards and a four TDs in his FBS debut against the Horned Frogs.

The Buffs were humbled by No. 6 Oregon, which cracked the seal on a 1-8 demolishment of a Pac-12 finish. Their only conference win came against Arizona State, by three points. CU was burning hype as fuel when it needed experience, cohesion and infrastructure. We’ll see if they’ve chucked enough of that in the furnace ahead of Year 2.

Colorado in 2024: The Buffaloes do have talent.

Head coach Deion Sanders brought in 24 new transfers to bolster his roster and boasts the No. 5 transfer class in the country (top in the Big 12). How well he can fold in that new talent to a program that hasn’t had a winning culture since long before he arrived will be the true test of his coaching ability.

Of Note: Prime gets the spotlight, but CU’s been down for a long time.

As much as those who rolled their eyes at the early 2023 coverage enjoyed the collapse of late 2023, Sanders at least brought something to the program. To check in on how the Buffs have been doing since they left to graze in Pac-12 pastures, here’s an oof number.

One: That’s how many bowl games Colorado has been to since it left the Big 12 in 2012 — the 2016 Alamo Bowl. Maybe you’ve heard of it. In fact, its postseason drought extended all the way back to 2007. Colorado has had just one winning season since 2005 and averaged less than four wins per year in the five years leading up to Coach Prime taking the reins.

Also, since 2010, Colorado has half as many double-digit loss seasons (four) as OSU has double-digit win seasons (eight). So the Buffaloes haven’t been good at football since I graduated high school. I won’t age myself, but I’ll give you a hint: Deion was still in the NFL.

A Black Friday Deal?

When it comes to this season — as we forecast it in July/August — these two teams project to be in different boats come Thanksgiving weekend. The Cowboys, picked third in the league, figure to be the most consistent team with the most returning talent. If they aren’t still in the mix for a trip to Arlington and more by this time, fans will be let down. While we probably shouldn’t gauge expectations on the whim of CU fans at this point, realistically, the Buffaloes could be in the hunt for a bowl game berth or better on Senior Day.

If nothing else, it will be the reunion for a couple of conference foes, injecting a little bit of nostalgia that’s been bleed from college football over the last couple of years of conference realignment and dissolving. And it will give you an excuse to avoid the malls on Black Friday.

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If it wasn’t obvious that football is almost here by the fact that the Cowboys’ fall camp starts Wednesday, it should be all the more obvious with the amount of watch lists dropping this week.

After Ollie Gordon was honored on the Maxwell Award’s preseason watch list on Monday, four more Cowboys appeared on lists that dropped Tuesday.

Martin, Oliver Named to Nagurski Watch List

Oklahoma State linebacker Nick Martin and edge rusher Collin Oliver were each named to the Nagurski Trophy Watch List. The award is given to the best defensive player in college football.

OSU was one of only 15 teams to have multiple players on the Nagurski’s list, which ran 75 players deep.

A redshirt junior, Martin led the Big 12 in tackles last season with 140 — the most of any Cowboy since 1984. That garnered him an All-Big 12 First Team selection in his first season as a starter.

Oliver started his career as a defensive end before moving to linebacker last season, but at Big 12 media days he said neither of those titles truly encapsulate what he is.

“Edge rusher — edge,” Oliver said. “They like edge. I got told I need to be saying I’m an edge rusher, so edge.”

Whatever he is, he enters his senior season having recorded 130 tackles, 38.5 tackles for loss and 22.5 sacks. The move to linebacker last season saw him set a career-high in tackles with 73, and his 15.5 tackles for loss matched his freshman season. He also forced four fumbles last season after entering the year with one in his career.

Finalists for the Nagurski will be announced Nov. 20, and the award will be handed out Dec. 9.

Michalski, Cooper Named to Outland Trophy Watch List

The big guys are getting some love, too, as offensive linemen Joe Michalski and Dalton Cooper were named to the Outland Trophy’s preseason watch list. The award is given to the best interior lineman in college football.

Only nine programs had multiple players on this preseason watch list, which also had 75 players on it.

Michalski led all Power Five players with 1,035 offensive snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus. In all of those snaps, Michalski didn’t allow a sack and gave up just two quarterback hits. He was one of two FBS players with at least 600 pass snaps without giving up a sack.

Cooper had the highest PFF grade among OSU’s O-linemen in 2024 — his first year with the program. Primarily playing as OSU’s left tackle, Cooper gave up just three sacks on 576 snaps while pass blocking.

Combined, the pair helped pave the way for Gordon to lead the nation in rushing and win the Doak Walker, as the Cowboys went 10-4 and made an appearance in the Big 12 title game.

Semifinalists for the Outland will be named Nov. 20 and finalists will come Nov. 26. The winner will be announced at the College Football Awards Show on Dec. 12.

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Has Oklahoma State found its new rival? Some say so. Before we get into whether the Red Raiders can fill that Sooner-sized void, let’s take a look at the two schools’ history and what we can expect from Texas Tech in 2024.

Be sure to check out the preview episodes of our Summer Schedule Series: Noncon | Utah | K-State | West Virginia | BYU | Baylor | TCU 

Week 13: Texas Tech | Nov. 23 | Stillwater

Series History: 24-23-3

The Cowboys caught up over the last decade, winning eight of the last 10 against the Red Raiders and 13 of the last 15. Mike Gundy is 14-4 against Tech.

Last Meeting: OSU 41, Texas Tech 31

The Cowboys have won three straight against the Red Raiders, with the most recent meeting coming two seasons ago. Spencer Sanders threw for just under 300 yards and a touchdown and rushed for two. He also had some highlight-reel connections with his receiving corps. OSU pulled away in the fourth despite being out-rushed and out-passed. It would push the Cowboys to their 5-0 start before TCU dropped them down a peg. OSU went 2-6 the rest of the way.

Tech in 2023: In the first two years under Joey McGuire, Tech has two bowl wins. The Raiders followed up an 8-5 2022 with a 7-6 2023 capped with an Independence Bowl win over Cal.

Tech in 2024: Despite some real roster turnover, Tech has a couple of figureheads returning for its offense that should give it a chance this fall. All-Big 12 running back Tahj Brooks is back after trailing only Ollie Gordon in rushing yards last season and quarterback Behren Morton could be poised for a big season now in Year 4 in the program.

But stop me if you’ve read this before. A lot will depend on Tech’s reloaded O-Line and how quickly it can gel.

Like many other teams in the conference and around the country, there were a lot of comings and goings for Tech via the portal, especially up front. The Red Raiders brought in four potential starting linemen. McGuire also hired former Washington State offensive line coach Clay McGuire to facilitate that cohesion (no relation to Joey McGuire, but this is his third stint at Tech, plus he played OL in Lubbock).

Also from Washington State, wide receiver Josh Kelly will help bolster the passing game, as well as touted five-star freshman Micah Hudson. If they can figure it out up front, the Red Raiders have plenty of firing power.

Of Note: Reunion for QB1

This sets up to be the first time Alan Bowman faces his former team since he transferred to Michigan ahead of the 2021 season. Bowman spent 2018-20 at Tech, with much acclaim, before injuries hampered his tenure as the Red Raiders’ QB.

Apparently, OSU and Tech are rivals.

According to that new video game everyone is fired up about, the notion that OSU and Texas Tech are rivals is gaining even more traction. I don’t know how I feel about it, to be honest. It’s fun to jeer the Red Raiders over copying a mascot, a gesture and now a uniform kit. And there has even been bad blood spilling over into other sports, like the incident with Marcus Smart and a fan back in 2014.

But with the imploding and rearranging of Power Conferences, and the ensuing dissolving of storied regional matchups, I wonder how strong any of these plug-in rivalries can really be. It’s one of the inevitable outcomes of capitalism-fueled football, and I get why it’s happening. But it does grind off a bit of the veneer of nostalgia of college football. If Tech must be OSU’s defacto rival, at least the two schools have plenty of history.

 

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Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news.

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OSU Bullets

• General football news: OSU’s four-star quarterback decommitted yesterday for another Big 12 school, James Washington signed with another team (PFB)

• A new kicker at OSU has reportedly left the squad (X)

• Marshall Scott lines out why OSU should expect a quicker start than previous years this fall: 

The start of last season saw OSU rotating three quarterbacks and Ollie Gordon receive just 19 combined carries through the nonconference. Well, Alan Bowman is the Cowboys’ quarterback, and after claiming the lion’s share of carries, Gordon went onto win the Doak Walker. Those two paired with seniors roaming the receiver and offensive line rooms should give this 2024 squad a higher floor than the 2023 one had.

[PFB]

• Two Cowboys are in the all-time top ten of receiving yards – a third player on the list was once an OSU commit (X)

• This was fascinating – around the NCAA releasing violations against Michigan, they came out with some “benefits” for parties that cooperate with the NCAA. Is it kosher just to call that the Mike Boynton rule? 

Schools the NCAA recognizes as cooperating in an exemplary manner in the ways above benefit in two big ways. First, exemplary cooperation could result in the NCAA knocking a violation down a level. That means a cooperating school could be subject to much lighter penalties than the infraction(s) dictate by NCAA rule. Second, schools that cooperate in an exemplary manner will not be subject to a postseason ban unless the school is a repeat offender. 

[247 Sports]

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Non-OSU Bullets

• 100 fun world destinations to visit in 2024

• The modern parentathalon

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The former Biletnikoff winner has found a new home.

Former Oklahoma State wide receiver James Washington signed with the Atlanta Falcons, according to a report from Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.

The #Falcons are signing veteran WR James Washington, sources say. Washington had 114 catches for 1,629 yards and 11 TDs over four years with the #Steelers (2018-21), the last two of which he was coached by Ike Hilliard, now Atlanta’s WR coach. pic.twitter.com/FvbJCTIDKq

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 29, 2024

Following his award-winning 2017 season, Washington was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent four years in Pittsburgh, amassing 114 catches for 1,629 yards and 11 touchdowns. But he started just 25 of his 60 games and never really got a foothold as a consistent part of the Steelers’ passing attack.

Since leaving Pittsburgh in 2021 as free agent, Washington has dealt with injury and bounced around last year. He hasn’t seen the field since 2022, when he played two games for the Dallas Cowboys. He had stops with the New York Giants, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts in 2023.

But it appears there will be reps to be earned in Atlanta, at least as a depth piece. The Falcons’ wide receiver room also includes the likes of Drake London, Darnell Mooney and Washington’s former Pittsburgh teammate, Ray-Ray McCloud.

In Atlanta, Washington will also be reunited with wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, who coached the position group for two of his years with the Steelers.

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One of the crown jewels in Oklahoma State’s 2025 recruiting class is instead sticking to his family ties.

Adam Schobel, a four-star recruit and formerly the highest-ranked commit in the Cowboys’ 2025 class, announced he will instead start his college career at TCU. Schobel’s father and uncle both played at TCU, so he will continue that family lineage. His cousin, a three-star edge rusher in the class, is also committed to TCU.

“I have been a TCU fan since the day I was born and when they called, I quickly realized it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” Schobel tweeted out. “An opportunity to play alongside my cousin at my parents’ alma mater.”

It’s been a bit of a game of musical chairs in terms of quarterback commitments in this class. OSU actually flipped Schobel from Baylor, with that flip coming in April. At that point, TCU had a quarterback committed in the class in four-star passer Ty Hawkins out of IMG Academy, but at the start of July, Hawkins flipped from TCU to SMU, opening up the spot at Schobel’s legacy program.

OSU has offered 10 quarterbacks in the cycle but nine are committed to other programs. As we’ve seen, a commitment doesn’t mean everything, so there is a chance the Cowboys could flip someone from that group.

The only uncommitted passer of the class the Cowboys have offered, according to 247Sports, is Emile Picarella out of Baton Rouge. He announced an OSU offer way back in July of 2022. As things stand, he is the No. 1,084 player in the 247Sports Composite rankings. He also has offers to Houston, Marshall, Louisville, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Oregon and others.

Here are the rest of OSU’s offers with the school each is committed to:

Keelon Russel (Duncanville, Texas) — Alabama
Ty Hawkins (San Antonio, Texas) — SMU
Adam Schobel (Columbus, Texas) — TCU
Kevin Sperry (Denton, Texas) — Oklahoma
Zebulin Kinsey (Toronto, Ohio) — Cincinnati
Kelden Ryan (DeSoto, Texas) — Virginia Tech
Shaker Reisig (Tulsa) — Boston College
Sawyer Anderson (Dallas) — Purdue
Jett Niu (Lehi, Utah) — Appalachian State

There aren’t a ton of uncommitted QBs left in the cycle. 247Sports lists Norfolk, Virginia’s Au’tori Newkirk as the highest ranked, with the recruiting service listing him as the No. 47 passer in the class. Picarella is the next highest ranked at No. 66.

Schobel’s defection leaves the Cowboys’ class at No. 50 nationally with 16 commits. That pushed the Pokes down to No. 10 in the Big 12.

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Summer is almost over; football is nearly here.

Oklahoma State starts its fall camp on Wednesday ahead of one of the more highly anticipated OSU seasons in recent memory. The Cowboys are coming off a 10-4 year as a contender in a new-look Big 12 conference. Win this updated league, and the Cowboys will almost certainly earn a spot in the first 12-team playoff. But before all that comes, a month of fall practices as the veteran-heavy Pokes prepare for the season.

Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on over the next month of so.

1. Hitting the Ground Running

The nonconference slate did not go as planned for the Cowboys last season, that much is certain.

OSU scrapped out a win against Central Arkansas to start the year before needing a second-half comeback against Arizona State to advance to 2-0. But then OSU couldn’t escape disaster against South Alabama, as the Jaguars beat the Pokes 33-7 in Stillwater. That’s honestly not the first time the Pokes have struggled in the noncon. Everyone, of course, remembers the Central Michigan debacle in 2016, but more recently, those Chippewas scored 44 on OSU to start the 2022 season. OSU’s Fiesta Bowl-winning 2021 campaign started with a 7-point win against Missouri State, a 5-point win against Tulsa and a 1-point win against Boise State.

With as good as this Cowboy team is supposed to be, it’d save the fans’ cardiologists a lot of work if OSU could take care of business in this opening stint to save the real stresses for the start of the Big 12 slate — Utah and at Kansas State.

There is, though, reason to believe this nonconference will be a bit different than last year — namely OSU knows what it is entering 2024.

The start of last season saw OSU rotating three quarterbacks and Ollie Gordon receive just 19 combined carries through the nonconference. Well, Alan Bowman is the Cowboys’ quarterback, and after claiming the lion’s share of carries, Gordon went onto win the Doak Walker. Those two paired with seniors roaming the receiver and offensive line rooms should give this 2024 squad a higher floor than the 2023 one had.

Defensively, the Cowboys should take a step forward in Year 2 of Bryan Nardo, as Nardo and his staff have 14 games of data and the offseason to evaluate what went well and what needs to be improved with a lot of the same pieces the Cowboys had last season.

Then there’s the fact that the Cowboys should be on high alert entering this season based on two factors. The first factor is that their opening-day opponent (South Dakota State) is coming off back-to-back FCS national titles. The second factor is that it should be fresh in the Pokes’ mind how bad things went in the noncon a year ago.

2. How Will the New Transfers Play Into Things

Not too much has changed from spring ball to fall camp, but there are a few new faces entering the fold.

OSU added a trio of transfers since the spring in wide receiver Gavin Freeman (Oklahoma), wide receiver Da’Wain Lofton (Virginia Tech) and running back Trent Howland (Indiana).

All three of those guys come in spots where OSU needs a little depth.

At receiver, the Cowboys return a stellar trio of Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens and De’Zhaun Stribling. A healthy Talyn Shettron could also be in line for a breakout season. But it feels as if it’s been a while since OSU went a whole season using only three or four receivers, and the depth behind that group is rather inexperienced.

Lofton comes in after spending three seasons with the Hokies in which he totaled 35 catches for 410 yards and three scores. Wearing No. 5, Lofton is listed at 5-foot-11, 175 pounds and should add some dynamic depth behind Presley in the slot. The same can be said for Freeman, a former OK preps standout at Heritage Hall. In two seasons in Norman, Freeman showed some big-play ability. His first college touch ended in a 46-yard TD in 2022, and he scored via a punt return in OU’s 2023 opener. Freeman will wear No. 17 and is listed at 5-8, 185 pounds.

Both or either of those guys could play a factor, and each also has a redshirt available, meaning they could play in four games and still save a year. Lofton has one season of eligibility remaining, and Freeman has two.

Then Howland is tasked with giving Gordon some rest. The Cowboys initially brought in Arkansas transfer AJ Green, but an offseason injury to Green saw the Pokes jump back in the portal and land Howland. Howland was the Hoosiers’ leading rusher in 2023, putting up 354 yards and two scores on 75 carries. Whereas the Gordon-Green backfield would’ve been one of thunder and lightning, Gordon and Howland are thunder and more thunder — with Howland officially listed at 6-3, 240 pounds.

I also wouldn’t count out Sesi Vailahi from playing into things at running back after some impressive performances as a true freshman last season.

3. Will Any Freshmen Find a Spot in the Rotation

The Cowboys are a veteran-heavy group in 2024, meaning snaps for freshmen might be a little sparce, but there are plenty of good, young players on campus this fall.

Tight end Josh Ford and defensive end Armstrong Nnodim stood out in the spring with how far ahead they were physically compared to most high schoolers. With a summer in the Glass Factory, there could be two or three more who start to poke their heads out this fall.

It could all come down to opportunity, but I wouldn’t be shocked seeing a young defensive back (like Landyn Cleveland) finding a way to factor into things. We’ve also talked about how the Cowboys’ depth at receiver is an unknown commodity, so maybe a Tre Griffiths could carve out a role on the outside.

It’s tough to pin down where a surprise freshman could come from with how experienced this squad is, but there are plenty of good prospects on the Cowboys’ roster.

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It’s officially watchlist season.

Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon was named as one of 80 FBS players to the Maxwell Award watch list, it was announced on Monday.

The Maxwell Award is given annually to the most outstanding player in college football by the Maxwell Football Club. Gordon is one of five returning semifinalists from last year’s Maxwell Award. Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. won the award in 2023.

In addition to leading the nation in rushing and earning the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back, Gordon was a unanimous All-American, Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and led all running backs in Heisman votes. His decision to stick with OSU over testing the transfer portal is a big reason for the optimism surrounding OSU this fall.

Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced Nov. 12, with the names of the three finalists released on Nov. 26. The winner will be announced during the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 12. Barry Sanders is the only Cowboy to win the Maxwell Award.

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