Walk The Talk: Oklahoma State icon Terry Miller deserved his flowers. He got them.
Oct. 14—Terry Miller received the signal, took one look around Boone Pickens Stadium and started his trek from the southeastern corner of the venue to the outskirts of the Oklahoma State logo at midfield.
Perhaps not all of the 53,855 people in attendance were there for Miller. The people who mattered to him, the people who made it possible for him to take those steps that led to that very spot, were lined up across the 35-yard line.
Friends. Teammates. Family. They were all there to witness Miller become only the fourth person to be inducted into the OSU Ring of Honor, right next to Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Bob Fenimore.
"There is no place like Oklahoma State," Miller said moments after watching a black cloth rise to unveil his name atop the western side of BPS.
Miller deserved his flowers on Saturday afternoon. He got them — in more ways than one.
The Cowboys rattled off their second straight win with a 39-31 upset over No. 23 Kansas.
And sophomore Ollie Gordon, OSU's star running back, posted a historic performance on a day that was about immortalizing another one of the program's star running backs.
A fitting tribute might've had something to do with what Miller said to Gordon prior to kickoff.
"He was talking to me, and he told us to go out there and handle business," Gordon said after the win. "I feel like I had to do it for him."
Ten months after being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, Miller returned to the stadium he called home in the 1970s, though he and his wife, Gay, reside in Stillwater to this day.
He watched as Gordon etched his name into history, the exact same way he did nearly 50 years earlier.
Gordon had a career day against the Jayhawks with 284 yards from scrimmage (168 rushing, 116 receiving) and two touchdowns.
It marked the first time an OSU player has had 100-plus yards rushing and receiving in the same game since Gerald Hudson did it against Kansas on Nov. 4, 1989.
"He came out here to get inducted," Gordon said. "I just felt like I had to show out — as a running back — for him."
During his time at OSU, Miller rushed for more than 4,000 yards and 45 touchdowns. His three-season run with the Cowboys featured a pair of top-five finishes in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, including a second-place finish to Earl Campbell in 1977.
Before being selected fifth overall by the Buffalo Bills in the 1978 NFL Draft, Miller put together a career that still ranks second in the program's record book in both yardage (Thurman Thomas) and touchdowns (Barry Sanders).
And nobody around this neck of the woods forgets his game-winning 72-yard touchdown run against Oklahoma that's forever engrained in the storied Bedlam Series.
"That was back in the old tearaway-jersey days," said Cowboys coach Mike Gundy, who was growing up in Midwest City during Miller's heyday. "He was wearing burnt orange, and they'd rip it, and he'd run in shoulder pads and be flying."
Two hours before the latest matchup between OSU and KU, the Cowboys made their usual walk along Hester Street and into BPS. Every player was donning a burnt orange jersey with No. 43 — his No. 43 — plastered across the front and back.
That part of the celebration made its way into the Pokes' postgame interviews. Alan Bowman, who's in his first year at Oklahoma State after stints at Texas Tech and Michigan, made sure to don the jersey Miller once did.
It didn't matter that Bowman has been in Stillwater for a mere nine months. He knew Miller's game.
"I met him in spring ball. Really, really nice guy. Really good guy," Bowman said. "Legendary with the ball in his hands."
The Cowboys might've picked up their first win of the season over a ranked opponent on Saturday.
The Cowboys might've righted a ship that was previously sinking.
And, sure, the Cowboys might've found their next superstar running back in a program full of them.
But Terry Miller deserved his flowers.
He got a bouquet.
Follow News Press sports reporter Jon Walker on Twitter @ByJonWalker for updates on Oklahoma State athletics, Stillwater High and more.
