Ollie Gordon's Continues Stretch of Big Games Against West Virginia

Oklahoma State’s superstar has had an impressive stretch of games in conference play, but none of those performances compared to Ollie Gordon’s output on Saturday.

Gordon’s fourth straight game with 100+ yards on the ground led the Cowboys to a 48-34 win at West Virginia to move to 5-2 this season. Gordon was coming off a historic outing with 100+ yards rushing and receiving against Kansas.

Gordon did not have a reception against WVU, but his impact was more significant. With 282 yards on 29 carries, Gordon accounted for 57% of OSU’s total yardage.

Gordon did most of his damage in the fourth quarter, going for 149 yards in the final frame. Gordon credited his offensive line and the Cowboys’ ability to keep playing as if it’s the beginning of the game when opponents wear down.

While Gordon has a knack for busting plays to the outside to work in space, some of his biggest plays in Morgantown came from running through the middle of the line. That’s something Gordon takes pride in.

“You know, sometimes you gotta run through the smoke, as Coach (John Wozniak) always tells us,” Gordon said. “And, you know, whenever you run through the smoke real hard, nobody really wanna tackle you.”

Gordon ran hard as he helped put the game out of reach with two late scores. First, a 46-yard run put OSU up 14 with just over four minutes remaining.

Then, after WVU scored again to make it a one-score game, Gordon struck again. A 53-yard touchdown put the finishing touches on the Cowboys’ huge fourth quarter in Morgantown.

Head Coach Mike Gundy has talked about the importance of riding the hot hand at running back in recent weeks, and Gordon was again that guy on Saturday. As the game progressed, Gordon’s play made decision-making easier for the coaching staff.

“I’m not the smartest coach in the world, but I said, ‘Guys, we gotta lean on Ollie,’” Gundy said. “We gotta make them stop Ollie, we gotta pound him, and which they did. We came up with different ways to run the ball but still allowed him because he was rolling.”

With four touchdowns, including three in the fourth quarter, Gordon showed how reliable he can be for the Cowboys’ offense. As long as the Cowboys can put him in a good position moving forward, Gordon can enter the discussion for national awards while the Cowboys enter the discussion for the Big 12 title.

“We just wanna get him going downhill, let him make cuts and use his strength,” Gundy said. “The other guys have been doing a good job with it also, but we’ve just been fortunate. He’s so big and strong that he can stay in and get a lot of carries.”

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