Oklahoma State University Athletics
Photo by: OSU Athletics
One More Ride: Chad Whitener
August 14, 2017 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State linebacker Chad Whitener has been an anchor at the heart of the Cowboy defense for the past two seasons. Now entering his senior season, Whitener will look to close out his storied collegiate career.
A native of Mansfield, Texas, Chad Whitener's college football experience started on the west coast at California. While competing for the Golden Bears, Whitener logged six tackles, including one for a loss and a fumble recovery against Oregon State, during his freshman campaign. He then chose to transfer to OSU and took a redshirt year in 2014.
Whitener's Oklahoma State story technically began with that redshirt season in 2014, but the dramatics of his tale began a year later. When the 2015 campaign began, Whitener, now a redshirt sophomore, opened the year as one of the OSU defense's important role players.
He finished his first season in Stillwater as the squad's third-leading tackler with 93 tackles, which he achieved despite not starting the five games of the season. Whitener also stuffed the rest of the defensive stat sheet by recording 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, two interceptions, one quarterback hurry, one forced fumbled and one fumble recovery.
Among his many stand-out performances as a sophomore, Whitener led the Cowboys with a career-high 19 tackles against Baylor. He also picked off TCU's Trevone Boykin twice in the second half, returning one for a touchdown and the other to the 1-yard line to set up an OSU touchdown.
Whitener received FWAA National Player of the Week honors and was named both the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week and OSU's defensive player of the game for his performance against the Horned Frogs. At the season's end, Whitener was named a first-team All-Big 12 performer as selected by the San Antonio Express-News. He was also a second team Academic All-Big 12 honoree.
The native Texan returned to Stillwater for his junior campaign in 2016, and he found continued success in the middle of the Cowboy defense.
Whitener once again was the Cowboys' third-leading tackler as he brought down the opposition on 71 occasions. His two highest tackle outputs also came against top-10 foes, as he logged 13 tackles against No. 10 West Virginia and 11 on the road against No. 7 Oklahoma.
Against the Mountaineers, eight of Whitener's tackles were unassisted. He also recorded eight solo stops against Pittsburgh, as well as a sack against WVU and two tackles for loss against Iowa State.
When his junior campaign concluded, Whitener was again honored as one of the conference's top performers when he was named a second-team All-Big 12 honoree by the league's coaches.
Whitener has cemented his place as one of the Cowboys' leaders both on and off the field during the past two seasons. Now a senior, Whitener will have a chance to cap off his successful career in 2017.
A native of Mansfield, Texas, Chad Whitener's college football experience started on the west coast at California. While competing for the Golden Bears, Whitener logged six tackles, including one for a loss and a fumble recovery against Oregon State, during his freshman campaign. He then chose to transfer to OSU and took a redshirt year in 2014.
Whitener's Oklahoma State story technically began with that redshirt season in 2014, but the dramatics of his tale began a year later. When the 2015 campaign began, Whitener, now a redshirt sophomore, opened the year as one of the OSU defense's important role players.
He finished his first season in Stillwater as the squad's third-leading tackler with 93 tackles, which he achieved despite not starting the five games of the season. Whitener also stuffed the rest of the defensive stat sheet by recording 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, two interceptions, one quarterback hurry, one forced fumbled and one fumble recovery.
Among his many stand-out performances as a sophomore, Whitener led the Cowboys with a career-high 19 tackles against Baylor. He also picked off TCU's Trevone Boykin twice in the second half, returning one for a touchdown and the other to the 1-yard line to set up an OSU touchdown.
Whitener received FWAA National Player of the Week honors and was named both the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week and OSU's defensive player of the game for his performance against the Horned Frogs. At the season's end, Whitener was named a first-team All-Big 12 performer as selected by the San Antonio Express-News. He was also a second team Academic All-Big 12 honoree.
The native Texan returned to Stillwater for his junior campaign in 2016, and he found continued success in the middle of the Cowboy defense.
Whitener once again was the Cowboys' third-leading tackler as he brought down the opposition on 71 occasions. His two highest tackle outputs also came against top-10 foes, as he logged 13 tackles against No. 10 West Virginia and 11 on the road against No. 7 Oklahoma.
Against the Mountaineers, eight of Whitener's tackles were unassisted. He also recorded eight solo stops against Pittsburgh, as well as a sack against WVU and two tackles for loss against Iowa State.
When his junior campaign concluded, Whitener was again honored as one of the conference's top performers when he was named a second-team All-Big 12 honoree by the league's coaches.
Whitener has cemented his place as one of the Cowboys' leaders both on and off the field during the past two seasons. Now a senior, Whitener will have a chance to cap off his successful career in 2017.
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