Richardson Ready for Increased Workload as Top Back

Dominic Richardson has looked the part of a starting running back when given the opportunity to carry the football for the Cowboys early in his career.

A regular part of the rotation in 2021, Richardson saw action in every game and logged 79 carries for 373 yards and four touchdowns. A year prior, Richardson saw limited time in the backfield, but broke out for 169 yards and three touchdowns as the lead back against Baylor, which marked the second-highest total for an Oklahoma State true freshman in school history, trailing only the 206-yard game that Thurman Thomas had against Kansas State in 1984.

While being behind runners such as Chuba Hubbard, Jaylen Warren and LD Brown, Richardson has had the opportunity to learn new skills that will compliment his style.

"I've gotten to learn from Jaylen, LD and Chuba, too, about being an open-minded runner by just reading the defense and making the right cuts," Richardson said. "All that stuff combined with being a physical back and a speed back at the same time. They all had the same things in common but were different runners."

With Brown and Warren having exhausted their eligibility and Dezmon Jackson having transferred, Richardson is the next man up in the Cowboy backfield. Behind his 123 career attempts, no other OSU running back has rushed the ball more than 15 times.

In Monday's media availability, head coach Mike Gundy mentioned Richardson will receive the ball 18-20 times a game to begin the season.

"Hearing that fires me up, honestly," Richardson said. "If I would've heard that as a freshman I would've had the butterflies in my stomach, but now I've been waiting for it and am excited about it. I'm going to be physical and work my butt off."

Richardson has had two games with 20 or more carries in his career with one being his freshman outburst against Baylor and the other coming last season at Texas Tech when he rushed for 84 yards on 20 attempts. Heading into the 2022 season, Richardson is focused on keeping his aggressive style of running, while also making sure to add skills to his game that will keep him on the field with an increased workload.

"I'm a very physical runner," Richardson said. "I'm a north-and-south guy who's going to stick my foot in the ground and run through you. But I also need to learn to save my body since I'm the upcoming running back and learn how to make cuts and get around defenders."

Behind Richardson is a pool of talented, young backs that will have to step up to spell Richardson over the course of the season., Richardson has had to take a leadership role among the position group to prepare redshirt freshman Jaden Nixon and highly touted freshmen, Ollie Gordon and C.J. Brown.

"It's a great feeling," Richardson said. "I have to be on top of my game and make sure I don't screw up. The young backs behind me are looking up to me and learning from me, so I know I have to stay on top of my game and make sure I'm getting in extra time to study film and everything else to teach them."

Richardson and the rest of the running backs are looking to gain valuable experience in spring practice for themselves and the entire offense before the fall rolls around.

"It's been going great," Richardson said. "It's all about our motivation and self-drive to work and get better, not only as individuals, but as a team as well. We're working on our new plays and what we can be better at from last year."

Players Mentioned

LD Brown

Ollie Gordon II

Chuba Hubbard

Dezmon Jackson

Jaden Nixon

Dominic Richardson

Jaylen Warren

Oklahoma State University Athletics