Even with all the time to prep for it, it’s still going to be odd to pull up to Big 12 Media Days that doesn’t feature Mike Gundy here in a few months.
Despite the ending being as gross as it was, there is no arguing that Gundy led the Oklahoma State program through its best era in history. Maybe some day that obviousness of that will be lost to the sands of time, but what won’t is the record book.
The Gundy Era is all over OSU’s record book. With the era being over, here’s a look at some of the major statistical categories Gundy-led players sit atop of. It’s the new standard the Eric Morris Era players will try to run down.
Rushing TDs (Game)
Two Cowboys have scored five rushing touchdowns in a singular game: Barry Sanders (x3) and Ollie Gordon.
That came when Gordon almost singlehandedly pushed the Cowboys past BYU on Nov. 25, 2023. It was a monstrous game regardless of the circumstance, but it was also huge in the fact that it was OSU’s regular season finale and clinched the Cowboys’ spot in the Big 12 title game.
Gordon finished with 166 yards on the ground along with those five TDs. He also had four catches for another 10 receiving yards.
Passing Yards (Game)
There have been 26 games in Oklahoma State’s history where the Cowboy quarterback threw for at least 400 yards. Mike Gundy coached 25 of those quarterbacks, and he is the other quarterback.
Mason Rudolph has the program record following the Gundy Era. Rudolph threw for 540 yards in that weather-delayed game against Pitt in 2016.
Rudolph went 26-for-46 in this contest and threw two TDs.
Receptions (Game)
It had been 74 years since an OSU player had more than 15 catches in a single game when Brennan Presley brought in 16 in the Texas Bowl in 2023. That tied him with Alex Loyd (1949) for the most catches in a game.
Even with all of those catches, Presley finished that game second on the team in receiving yards with 152. Rashod Owens actually took home Offensive MVP honors for catching 10 passes for 164 yards and two scores.
Receiving Yards (Game)
This is one of the trivia questions that, I think, a lot of Cowboy fans would get right. Adarius Bowman’s performance against Kansas in 2006 was legendary, as he finished with 300 receiving yards.
OSU was down 17-0 in the second half of this contest before Bowman essentially backpacked the Cowboys to a victory. With Bobby Reid playing quarterback, Bowman caught 13 balls for those 300 yards. Four of those receptions were touchdowns.
Side note: There were single-game records set in 2006 and 2016 — what does that mean for 2026?
Tackles for Loss (Game)
Emmanuel Ogbah would be a standout on a Gundy Era All-Defensive squad.
As a sophomore in 2014, Ogbah made 5.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage against Kansas. The game will probably best be remembered for Tyreek Hill’s late-game heroics, scoring a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth on a 99-yard kick return, but Ogbah was a menace, finishing with 10 tackles, two sacks and the 5.5 tackles for loss.
Passing Yards and Touchdowns (Season)
The top seven seasons in terms of passing yards in OSU’s history were all Gundy-coached quarterbacks. Mason Rudolph accounted for three of those, including the top season, while Brandon Weeden had two, Taylor Cornelius had one and Alan Bowman had one.
Rudolph threw for 4,904 yards and 37 touchdowns — both OSU records — as a senior in 2017. The touchdown mark is tied with Weeden’s 2011 season.
Rudolph threw for at least 200 yards in all 13 of OSU’s games that season. He threw for at least 300 yards in 11 of those games and at least 400 yards in five of them. There was only one game that year where Rudolph didn’t throw a touchdown (Texas, a game OSU still won). He had multiple TD passes in every other game.
Receiving Yards and Touchdowns (Season)
Justin Blackmon’s OSU legacy is tied much closer to the Cowboys’ 2011 season, but in 2010, he set the program’s record for receiving yards in a season with 1,782 — surpassing Rashaun Woods’ 2022 season.
Blackmon also accounted for 20 touchdown catches that year, surpassing Dez Bryant’s then-record of 19.
Blackmon had at least 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in every game that season — a ridiculous baseline to have. His best game in terms of yardage that year was a 10-catch, 207-yard performance against Texas Tech. His best TD game came against Tulsa, when he had 174 yards and three TDs on just six catches.
Passing Yards and Touchdowns (Career)
Rudolph is back. He closed his career with 13,618 passing yards and 92 passing touchdowns — both school records.
The top five quarterbacks in OSU’s history for career passings yards and touchdowns are four Gundy-coach QBs and Gundy himself.
Rudolph threw for less than 200 passing yards just four times in his career. Meanwhile he threw for at least 300 yards in 23 games and at least 400 yards 10 times. So when Rudolph took the field, the Cowboys had twice as good of a shot of him throwing for 400 yards than him throwing for less than 200.
Receptions (Career)*
This one comes with an asterisk because Brennan Presley took five years to climb atop this list, but still, getting ahead of Rashaun Woods on any list is a big deal.
Presley closed his career with 315 catches. After catching seven balls as a freshman, Presley would catch at least 50 in each of his remaining seasons, including 101 in 2023 and 90 in 2024.
Receiving Yards (Career)
With as many yards as Rudolph threw for, it would make sense that his primary target sits atop OSU’s career receiving yards list.
James Washington had 4,472 receiving yards on 19.8 yards a reception (also a school record) in his time as a Cowboy. Washington had 21 games of at least 100 receiving yards in his career and three games north of 200.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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