Calvin Bundage Makes Return to Cowboy Defense for 2020 Season

Oklahoma State redshirt senior linebacker Calvin Bundage makes his return to the defensive unit for the 2020 season.

STILLWATER – For the first time in more than a year, Oklahoma State linebacker Calvin Bundage is set to lace em up on Saturdays for the Cowboys. The redshirt senior out of Edmond (OK) Santa Fe missed all of the 2019 season due to a back injury he sustained prior to the season.

Back injuries are very tricky to deal with and depending on the severity, very difficult to recover from. While he isn’t expected to be a starter going into the 2020 season, Bundage has made strides over the past several months and could be very disruptive in certain packages.

“I think it’s like anything in life, if it gets taken away from you, you really appreciate it more,” said defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. “Calvin is just more locked in than he’s ever been, just focused. Right away, we can get him coming off the edge, him on one said and Trace [Ford] on the other; there’s two serious threats. But he’s just locked into everything he’s doing, seems to really appreciate football.”

The middle of the defense for the Cowboys in 2020 will be very dangerous. Jim Knowles returns an insanely talented linebacker group led by seniors Amen Ogbongbemiga and Malcolm Rodriguez. Not to mention nearly the entire defensive line returns led by Cameron Murray, Trace Ford and Tyler Lacy.

Throw Bundage back into the mix as an edge rusher and opposing offenses are going to have quite a bit on their plates.

“I think it’s a real good bonus,” Cameron Murray said of getting Calvin Bundage back. “Calvin, the year before, got an injury and him getting back, just seeing him move around in fall camp is a great site to see because you can just tell he’s in shape now and moving around fluid. Just makes our defense better with him on it. So, just him being back, I like it because Calvin can bring a different type of mentality to the defense and it makes a big difference for us.”

However, going back to the 2018 season, Bundage will have to continue to work on his discipline and not collect penalties if he wants to play this season.

Bundage was one of the Cowboys’ defensive leaders during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, but penalties caused him to miss a bit of playing time during the 2018 season. As quick as he is off the edge, Bundage would play too fast and reckless and collected quite a bit of offside and face mask penalties.

Bundage is quick off the edge and very disruptive as he recorded 62 total stops in 2018, 41 of which were unassisted. He also recorded eight tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries and 1.5 sacks.

Combine those numbers with his 2017 stats and he’s sitting at 116 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in his last two seasons on the field.

Throughout his career, Bundage has played in 35 games and has recorded 129 total tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks as he redshirted his freshman season.