Could Alan Bowman Become a Top 5 Oklahoma State Quarterback?
Alan Bowman might not come to mind when thinking of Oklahoma State’s greatest quarterbacks, but that could change next season.
Last season, Bowman transferred to OSU after a couple of years as a backup at Michigan, where he threw only 11 passes. After a promising start to his career at Texas Tech, Bowman found his groove again in Stillwater.
Although he got off to a rocky start as part of a three-quarterback system. Culminating with a loss to South Alabama to end nonconference play, Bowman emerged as the full-time starter for the Big 12 slate.
He thrived against Big 12 competition, throwing for 278 yards and two touchdowns in his first full-time game at Iowa State. As the season progressed, Bowman became more comfortable with his weapons at receiver.
Bowman finished last season with 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Although his turnovers were sometimes ill-advised, his passing yards made up for it, considering OSU’s elite rushing attack with Ollie Gordon II.
Bowman threw for 3,460 yards in 2023, including five games with at least 300 yards. Despite splitting time with two other quarterbacks, Bowman finished with 501 pass attempts, the third-most in a season in OSU history.
His 3,460 yards were also good for the sixth-most in a season and pushed him to 14th on OSU’s career leaderboard. With OSU’s official leaderboard counting Mike Gundy’s bowl stats, Bowman would need nearly 5,000 yards to crack the top five all-time.
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However, moving up to sixth seems like a lock if Bowman can stay healthy. Josh Fields’ 6,090 yards have him at the No. 6 spot, but another good season from Bowman will be enough to jump ahead.
In Bowman’s 11 starts, he averaged 293 yards passing. Assuming he can maintain that average next season, Bowman would project to have another 4,104 yards if OSU plays 14 games again. However, with the new College Football Playoff format, an OSU Big 12 Championship appearance and at-large CFP bid that results in a trip to the national title game would mean 17 games for the Cowboys. If OSU can make that happen, Bowman would be projected to have 4,984 yards next season, just enough to pass Zac Robinson for a top-five spot.
Although Bowman is almost certain to finish outside the top five in career passing yards, his impact in only two seasons will be easy to see on the Cowboys’ leaderboards for years to come.
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IVAN WHITE
Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.