Oklahoma State football QB Alan Bowman receives extra year of eligibility from NCAA

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State’s list of returning starters for the 2024 season grew by one on Thursday.

Quarterback Alan Bowman announced he has been granted a seventh year of eligibility by the NCAA, signaling his return to Stillwater for a second season guiding the Cowboy offense.

With All-American running back Ollie Gordon II, dynamic slot receiver Brennan Presley and several offensive linemen having already announced intentions to return, the Cowboy offense will have only three starting spots to fill.

“Just want to say thanks to all my Oklahoma State teammates, the coaches and fans for helping make the 2023 season the most fun I’ve ever had playing football,” Bowman posted on social media. “That said, I just heard back that I was granted another year of eligibility and we have unfinished business. I love Stillwater and this program, so I’ll be back in 2024 to make a championship run.”

Bowman, who turns 24 in March, started 13 of 14 games for the Cowboys, who went 10-4 and reached the Big 12 Championship game for the second time in three years.

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He completed 60.7% of his passes (304-of-501) for 3,460 yards and 15 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. Bowman finished 15th nationally in passing yards and the Cowboys were 30th in total offense at 431.8 yards per game.

Despite limited playing time in each of the first three games, Bowman finished in the top 10 for single-season passing marks in three notable categories: Passing yards (seventh), pass completions (fourth) and total offense (10th with 3,484 yards). He averaged 285.9 passing yards per game in Big 12 play.

Bowman’s veteran leadership was a key ingredient in bringing balance to the offense as Gordon emerged in his breakout sophomore season. And Bowman’s connection grew strong with returning receivers Presley and Rashod Owens, who each had more than 150 receiving yards in the Cowboys’ 31-23 win over Texas A&M in the Texas Bowl last week.

With Bowman remaining in place, the Cowboys now have four quarterbacks on scholarship, something they haven’t had since the 2018 season. The others are Garret Rangel, who will be a redshirt sophomore, followed by redshirt freshman Zane Flores and incoming freshman Maealiuaki Smith.

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Bowman started multiple games over three seasons at Texas Tech from 2018-20, though his 2019 season was cut short when he suffered a broken collarbone in the third game of the season. That injury was, in part, a key piece in his case for an eligibility extension.

Bowman transferred to Michigan, where he served as a backup on the 2021 and 2022 teams that reached the College Football Playoff. Because he never appeared in more than four games in a season at Michigan, he was eligible to count one of those seasons as a redshirt year.

“Alan met the criteria for an extension of his eligibility due to his season ending injury in 2019 combined with redshirting at the University of Michigan,” OSU’s senior associate athletics director for compliance Ben Dyson said. “We appreciate the assistance of the Texas Tech training staff for providing us the documentation we needed to quickly process our waiver request.”

Bowman is working toward a master’s degree in parks and recreation at OSU. He earned his undergraduate degree in business administration in three years at Texas Tech, then completed his master’s in supply chain management at Michigan’s renowned Ross School of Business.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football QB Alan Bowman gets extra year of eligibility