Ollie Gordon runs rampant to propel Oklahoma State over West Virginia
Oct. 21—Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon used a historic, career-best outing to help lead the Cowboys to a win over No. 23 Kansas in Week 6.
It was no fluke.
Gordon continued his emergence as one of the nation's top running backs with another breakout performance on Saturday afternoon in OSU's 48-34 win over West Virginia at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Gordon gashed the Mountaineers (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) for 282 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries.
The sophomore is the first OSU running back with four-plus touchdowns in a game since Rennie Childs did it against Pitt on Sept. 17, 2016 — and most yards since Chuba Hubbard rushed for 296 against Kansas State on Sept. 28, 2019.
He also became the first OSU rusher with four straight 100-yard games since Jaylen Warren in 2021. Since getting a meager three carries in the Cowboys' Week 3 loss to South Alabama, Gordon has run 97 times for 707 yards (7.29 yards a carry) and six touchdowns.
Perhaps more important than Gordon's historic day itself was the timing of the plays that made it possible. When the Cowboys (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) needed a strike, he provided it.
His first touchdown, a 2-yard plunge into the end zone, put the Pokes ahead 10-0 midway through the first quarter. Then, the Mountaineers rallied, eventually taking a 17-13 lead into halftime.
Out of the break, Cowboys quarterback Alan Bowman put OSU back in front with a 5-yard touchdown to wideout Jaden Bray, and WVU responded with one of Garrett Greene's touchdown tosses.
Gordon willed the Pokes to a 27-24 lead from 16 yards out in the early stages of the fourth quarter, and he used a 46-yard touchdown to give them a 41-27 cushion with roughly four minutes remaining. The dagger came when he broke through WVU's defense for a 56-yard score with less than two minutes left.
In the fourth quarter, Gordon had nine carries for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
"His power and running and cutting and stiff-arm — I mean, I'm really impressed with what he's done in the fourth quarter these last few games," Gundy told the Cowboy Radio Network.
But Gordon wouldn't dare bask in the glory. Following the win over Kansas, he gave all of the credit to the offensive line. He did the same thing Saturday, though the Cowboys had to adjust on the fly.
Starting left guard Jason "Queso" Brooks left the game early in the third quarter and never returned.
Starting right tackle Jake Springfield was shaken up and missed a play before coming back.
Dalton Cooper, the starting left tackle who was questionable after getting injured against Kansas, didn't miss a snap.
"I can't even thank them enough. Every time I touched the ball, they created a huge hole," Gordon told CRN. "It was just money every time. I gotta take my boys out to dinner this weekend. They played their butts off."
Gordon's performance against WVU is emblematic of the offensive line's turnaround since the bye week.
Bowman was sacked once at Iowa State in the Big 12 opener, but he was pressured 11 times and forced to throw the ball away. He completed less than half of his passes that day because of that.
But he wasn't sacked against Kansas State, sacked once against Kansas and not sacked against West Virginia. Bowman has been pressured a combined five times in the past three games.
"It's always a great feeling to set what our goals are, and we're seeing them happen on the field," Springfield told CRN. "Each game, we're getting better. ... I feel like there's a good thing happening with us right now."
The Cowboys' fifth straight win in Morgantown wasn't just any other Big 12 shootout. Regardless of the outcome, Saturday marked Gundy's 400th game at Oklahoma State as a quarterback, assistant coach and head coach.
Per the News Press' calculations, that ranks him No. 8 all-time. Nebraska's Tom Osborne is seventh (408), and Penn State's Joe Paterno is atop the list (696). The only other active coach is Iowa's Kirk Ferentz (No. 4, 419).
Gundy will take a step closer to Osborne when the Cowboys host Cincinnati on Saturday (7 p.m. on ESPN2). First, though, the aftermath of OSU's win over West Virginia served as a moment of reflection.
"We've built this program through a lot of years, and we've done some things I don't think anybody in the state of Oklahoma thought we could ever do, and we're still doing it," Gundy said.
"I don't think anybody in the state of Oklahoma thought we'd win these last three games, and we're still doing it."
Follow News Press sports reporter Jon Walker on Twitter @ByJonWalker for updates on Oklahoma State athletics, Stillwater High and more.
