Drew Previews the Cowboy offense.
Offense
Offensive Line
LT
72 Isala Glass – 6’4”, 305 – RJr.
or
71 Dalton Cooper – 6’7”, 315 – RSr.
LG
67 Cole Birmingham – 6’5”, 315 – RSr.
C
66 Joe Michalski – 6’5”, 305 – RSr.
RG
74 Preston Wilson – 6’4”, 295 – RSr.
RT
61 Jake Springfield 6’6”, 320 – RSr.
Key Points
- This group reminds me of Kansas State’s group from last season. You won’t find a more experienced line in college football.
- Birmingham, Wilson, and Springfield were all class of 2019 recruits.
- Center Joe Michalski is the star. He was preseason All-American and All-Big 12.
- Glass, a transfer from Arizona State, is the only new face on the line. He started 15 games for Arizona State.
- Oklahoma State has the 115th rushing offense in the country, averaging 96 yards per game.
- Oklahoma State is 6th in sacks allowed, giving up 1 sack in the first 4 games.
Overall
You would think Oklahoma State would be a run first team with Ollie Gordon at running back, but that hasn’t been the case. The Cowboys have struggled to move the ball on the ground but protect the quarterback at an elite level.
The Wildcats are going to have to balance rushing the passer and playing coverage on Saturday. Throwing blitzers into a stout offensive line and not getting home could be a problem for the back end of the defense.
Receivers
Boundary WR
1 De’Zhaun Stribling – 6’2”, 200 – RJr.
Slot WR
80 Brennan Presley – 5’8”, 175 – Sr.
Field WR
10 Rashod Owens – 6’2”, 230 – RSr.
1st Off the Bench
2 Talyn Shettron – 6’2”, 195 – RSo.
Stats / Key Points
- Leader in Receptions: Presley – 27
- Leader in Touchdowns: Presley – 4
- Leader in Yards: Stribling – 219
- Leader in Yards Per Reception: Shettron – 24.3
- They move Presely all over the formation. He’ll occasionally line up in the backfield. He’s a two time All-Big 12 selection for a reason.
- Stribling is coming back off a season ending injury in 2023. Had over 1000 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns for Washington State in two seasons before transferring to OSO.
- Owens was the MVP of the Texas Bowl with 10 catches for 164 Yards
- Shettron put up 110 yards and a touchdown on 3 receptions vs Tulsa
- 7 different players caught passes for Oklahoma State vs Utah. No player caught more than 4.
Overall
You won’t find a more talented and experienced group of receivers in the Big 12. While Presley is the headliner, I’m more concerned about Rashod Owens. He’s a beast at 6’3”, 230 and Kansas State isn’t that big or physical at corner. It’s going to take more than one player to get him on the ground after the catch.
This will be the biggest test for the secondary so far this season…gulp.
Tight End
40 Josh Ford – 6’6”, 245 – Fr.
or
86 Tyler Foster – 6’6”, 255 – RFr.
or
82 Quinton Stewart – 6’3”, 250 – RSr.
Stats / Key Points
Leader in Receptions: Josh Ford – 6
Leader in Yards: Josh Ford – 56
Leader in Touchdowns: Josh Ford – 1
- Ford is the only true freshman starter for Oklahoma State
- Foster is a transfer from Ohio who started 16 games for the Bobcats
Overall
Josh Ford is a name to remember going forward. He’s a young talented guy, but overall, tight end isn’t the strength of the roster. Ford is the receiver of the group, with Foster and Stewert doing more in the blocking department.
Running Back
0 Olie Gordon II – 6’2, 225 – Jr.
Stats / Key Points
Gordon 2024 Stats
Rushing
Attempts: 73
Yards: 258
Avg: 3.5 YPC
TD: 4
Receiving
Rec: 9
Yards: 60
Avg. 6.7
- Gordon is the retuning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year
- Led the nation in rushing yards (1,732) and scrimmage yards (2,062) in 2023
- Pre-Season All Big-12
- Pre-Season All-American
Overall
Ollie Gordon can’t be this bad…right? How is the guy that dropped 136 on the ‘Cats last season at 6.5 yards a carry only averaging 3.5 yards a carry this season? He only had 11 carries in their loss to Utah. I don’t understand, but I don’t trust it. At some point, Gordon has to carry the load for Oklahoma State. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him break the 20-carry barrier on Saturday. It would be his second 20 carry game of the season (his other coming in the opener against South Dakota State).
Quarterback
7 Alan Bowman – 6’2”, 220 – RSr.
Stats / Key Points
Bowman 2024 Stats
Attempts: 145
Completions: 91
Completion %: 62.8
Yards: 1173
Yards/Game: 293
TDs: 10
INTs: 4
- 12th in the nation in passing yards
- 13th in passing touchdowns
- 7th Season of College Football
- Kansas State will be the 34th start of his career.
- Had 396 Yards and 5 TDs vs Tulsa
Overall
I thought this would be Ollie Gordon’s team. Turns out I was wrong. Through 4 games, this has been Alan Bowman’s team. That came back to bite the Cowboys after his 2 interceptions last week against Utah. Bowman attempted 33 passes and Ollie Gordon had 11 carries. I do not understand that gameplan.
Bowman has live arm, and a wealth of experience, but if I’m the Wildcats I’d rather be tasked with shutting down a pass happy Oklahoma State than watching Gordon grind down the defense. The Kansas State secondary will need to be on their toes because Bowman will throw you the ball on occasion, especially when he’s pressing.
As I mentioned above, wide receiver is a strength for this team, and the ‘Cats have struggled on the back end on occasion. They’ll have to be on their game because Bowman’s been playing college football longer than some of the Kansas State defenders have been alive. He’ll punish mistakes and Gundy will be scheming after watching the Wildcat’s secondary struggle in a couple games.
The Big Picture
At some point, Gundy is going to remember that Ollie Gordon II was the best back in the nation last season. I refuse to believe that his role as a secondary player in the Cowboys’ offense will continue. This Oklahoma State team could be scary if they can find some balance between the run and pass game. Sometimes a loss makes a team refocus on what they do best. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gordon gassed up and ready to go on Saturday.
Bowman has been good so far this season, but I don’t think he’s capable of carrying Oklahoma State to the promised land without a major assist from Gordon. What concerns me about Bowman is his ability to read a defense and make changes at the line. The Kansas State defense will need to be ready to adjust with them before the snap in order to avoid mismatches. If Presley slips into the backfield and the coverage dictates a linebacker pick him up, Joe Klanderman and company need to be prepared to get out of that defense.
This will be an interesting game between two teams coming off west coast losses. One thing to watch out for is Oklahoma State’s stamina. They played a tough game in Utah in sweltering conditions last weekend. Sometimes it takes more than 6 days to recover from a game like that. While the B.Y.U. loss was mentally scarring for the Wildcats, physically, it was a less taxing game. I see the potential for the defensive line depth to wear down the Oklahoma State offensive line. The big guys tend to take longer to recover than the little guys. If this comes down to the 4th quarter, K-State’s pass rush could start getting home. That’s going to be important because Bowman can pick a defense apart if given adequate time.
In the end, it comes down to this:
Contain Ollie Gordon
Don’t bust coverage
Move Bowman off his spot, even if you don’t sack him.
Seems simple enough, execution will be the hard part.