Comeback Cowboys Add Another Double-Digit Win Season to OSU's History

The 2023 Oklahoma State football season was full of ups and downs, but when the door was closed on its 124th season, the Cowboys were 10-4 with another successful chapter in the ongoing greatest era of program history.

Most notably, OSU secured a 10-win season for the 11th time in school history and the eighth time during Mike Gundy's tenure as head coach, played in the Big 12 Championship game for the second time in three years, sold out every home game, won the TaxAct Texas Bowl and won the final scheduled Bedlam game in the foreseeable future of the 118-game series. OSU also won six games when trailing in the second half to rank alone as the most in the FBS. It defeated Arizona State and Houston while trailing in the third quarter and staged fourth-quarter comebacks against Kansas, West Virginia, Oklahoma and BYU.

The season saw Gundy earn Big 12 Coach of the Year honors for the third time in his career and increased the Cowboys' streak of years with both a winning record and bowl appearance to 18 straight seasons – the longest in OSU history and the second longest active streak in the nation.

OSU produced one of its top passing years ever as its numbers for attempts, completions, yards and yards per game all ranked among the top 10 single-season marks in school history, but its rushing attack produced most of the headlines – more specifically running back Ollie Gordon II.

Gordon wrapped up his sophomore season as the nation's best running back, winning the Doak Walker Award, unanimous All-America honors, the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, while also receiving more votes for the Heisman Trophy than any other running back.

Despite playing for an offense that attempted the third-most pass attempts in the FBS, Gordon led the nation in rushing yards (1,732), yards from scrimmage (2,062), 100-yard games (nine), 150-yard games (5), 250-yard games (2) and carries of at least 20 yards (21), 30 yards (14), 40 yards (7) and more. He was also second in rushing touchdowns (21), total touchdowns (22), rushing yards after contact (1,056) and all-purpose yards (2,062).

The formidable air attack was led by quarterback Alan Bowman, who produced the seventh-highest single-season passing yards total in school history (3,460) and the third-most passing yards against Power Five opponents in the FBS (3,338), as well as receivers Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens and Leon Johnson III, who each produced more than 500 receiving yards. Presley also ranked No. 3 in the FBS and No. 4 in OSU history with 101 catches on the year.

The combination of Bowman and Gordon also made Oklahoma State one of just three FBS teams to have players finish the year ranked among the top 15 nationally in both total rushing yards and total passing yards.

On the defensive side, linebacker Nickolas Martin led the unit with 140 total tackles to rank as the sixth-most in the FBS and the most for an OSU player since 1984. He also finished No. 3 in the FBS with 83 solo tackles and teamed with safeties Kendal Daniels (105 total tackles) and Trey Rucker (100 total tackles) to make Oklahoma State one of two FBS teams and the only Power Five team with three players to record triple-digit tackles on the year.

The OSU defense also finished No. 2 in the FBS with a defensive fourth down conversion rate of just 24% and forced 23 turnovers for its highest total since 2017.

As impressive as the season was, it's safe to say that no one outside of the program saw it coming after the first four games of the year.

The Cowboys started at 2-2, knocking off Central Arkansas at home and Arizona State on the road before dropping a home game to South Alabama and a road game at Iowa State that came down to final minutes.

Although the loss in Ames was another setback, it marked a decided change in strategy and production that would alter the rest of the year.

The Cowboys used the first three games of the season to rotate players and see what they were capable of after roster turnover in the transfer portal brought in several new faces. A trio of quarterbacks and running backs played equal time through the first three games and every position on field saw a rotation to varying degrees, but the trip to Ames marked the first time that players were given starting roles in a traditional sense and played the full game.

After using a bye week following the Ames trip to make some changes to the rushing scheme and focus on creating more player-led pregame excitement in the locker room, the Cowboys were off and running on their way to winning seven of their final eight regular season matchups to reach the Big 12 Championship game.

The first step of the run came in OSU's first Friday home game since 1956 as the Cowboys knocked off Kansas State, 29-21, in front of a "blackout" crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium behind a school-record matching five made field goals from Lou Groza Award semifinalist Alex Hale.

Hale hit four more the following week against No. 23 Kansas to become the first kicker in program history to make nine fields in a two-game stretch and help him eventually become the 2023 NCAA statistical champion with 2.08 made field goals per game. The biggest headline out of the 39-32 win over the Jayhawks though was the emergence of Gordon onto the national scene.

Gordon, who totaled just 19 carries through the first three games of the year, exploded out of the gate against KU by hauling in a career-long 50-yard reception on the first snap of the game and surpassing 100 yards from scrimmage with eight and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter. He finished with 284 total yards as his 168 rushing yards and 116 receiving yards made him the first Cowboy since Gerald Hudson in 1989 to record at least 100 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game. He was also the first OSU running back with a 100-yard receiving game since Rafael Denson in 1992. It was an especially fitting day as OSU inducted College Football Hall of Fame running back Terry Miller into the Cowboy Football Ring of Honor at halftime.

The game also kicked off a historic run for the sophomore as Gordon totaled 282 yards the following week at West Virginia and 292 yards after that against Cincinnati to become the only FBS player in the past 10 years with more than 250 yards from scrimmage in three consecutive games.

In a game featuring four lead changes and six fourth-quarter scores, the Cowboys turned a fourth-quarter deficit at West Virginia into a 14-point win behind 149 fourth quarter rushing yards from Gordon to rank as the fifth-most in a quarter in school history.

For America's Greatest Homecoming against Cincinnati, Gordon ran for 271 yards, with 211 coming in the second half to rank as the second-most rushing yards in a half in school history. It also gave him 553 rushing yards over a two-game span to mark the most for a Cowboy since Heisman-winner Barry Sanders posted 625 yards against Iowa and Texas Tech in 1988.

The 45-13 win over UC, which came in the Bearcats' first visit to Stillwater since 1959, was OSU's largest margin of victory all season. The game also saw the breakout of transfer wide receiver Leon Johnson III, who came to OSU for one season after earning All-America honors at the Division III level at George Fox University. Johnson sacrificed his redshirt to fill in for an injury-depleted wideout room to play in the game and the remainder of the season. He immediately proved his worth with five catches for 149 yards to produce more than half of the Cowboy receiving total for the night.

With Oklahoma State now sitting at 4-1 in a tie atop the Big 12 standings, the final scheduled Bedlam matchup was next, with the winner having a clear path to the conference championship game. Played continuously every year since 1910, the Bedlam series tied for second-longest continuous rivalry in the FBS and third-longest in college football history, but the Sooners' move to the SEC likely put an end to the series for the foreseeable future.

There's no doubt the historical context brought even more attention to an already drama-filled matchup, and an over-capacity crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium provided an atmosphere as good as it gets in college football to mark the occasion.

OSU jumped out to an early lead over an OU team ranked in the top 10, but the Cowboys trailed, 21-17, with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game. After scoring twice with less than eight minutes remaining, Oklahoma State used a fourth down tackle by true freshman Dylan Smith to stop Oklahoma's final drive near midfield and seal a 27-24 victory.

The win sent the Cowboy faithful into unprecedented celebration as fans stormed the field, goalposts were ripped down and paraded across campus into Theta Pond and a dance party ensued in the locker room before Mike Gundy lifted the Bedlam Trophy over his head while screaming, "How 'bout them Cowboys!" in celebration of his 100th career Big 12 win and 40th career win over an AP Top 25 opponent.

The Cowboys would then need to win two of their three remaining regular season games to reach the Big 12 Championship game, and that's exactly what they did.

After dropping its first ever game at UCF, Oklahoma State responded by recording back-to-back comeback wins.

The first was a 43-30 win at Houston after trailing 23-9 late in the second quarter, and the second was a 40-34 double overtime win in BYU's first ever visit to Stillwater.

OSU trailed BYU, 24-6, at halftime before Gordon went for five rushing touchdowns to tie Barry Sanders' single-game school record and put the Cowboys on top. The 18-point deficit marked the third-largest comeback win in school history and the largest at home, while the 24-13 fourth-quarter deficit tied the third-largest fourth quarter comeback win and the largest home fourth-quarter comeback win in school history.

The game was also sealed with one of the highlights of the season. With the Cowboys leading, 40-34, in the second possession of double overtime, Rucker wrestled down a 6-6, 255-pound tight end while ripping out the ball right before the ball-carrier was down. Rucker immediately recovered the ball while still on the ground to complete the win and send the Cowboys to Arlington.

The following week at the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship, OSU managed a season-high three passing touchdowns in front 84,523 fans to mark the highest-attended conference football championship game ever, but ultimately fell short in its championship bid to the College Football Playoff-bound Texas Longhorns. It marked just UT's third win against OSU in the Longhorns' last nine games against the Cowboys before UT departed the conference.

Three and a half weeks later the Cowboys would face the top-ranked rushing defense and overall defense in the SEC, squaring off against former conference-foe Texas A&M in the TaxAct Texas Bowl with a 10-win season on the line.

OSU answered the call, jumping out to a 24-6 halftime lead before finishing a 31-23 victory behind the most yards of total offense (570), passing yards (436), completions (35) and first downs (29) allowed by the Aggie defense all season. Presley tied a school record that was set in 1949 with 16 catches and totaled 152 receiving yards while Bowman passed for a season-best 402 yards that also marked the most allowed by TAMU all season. It was Owens, however, who became the first wide receiver in history to win Texas Bowl MVP honors as he made 10 receptions for 164 yards and two touchdowns.

It served as the exclamation point on one of the best turnaround seasons in school history and moved Gundy into a tie for sixth in college football history with 12 career bowl wins as a head coach.

In addition to the aforementioned long list of postseason honors Gordon received, he was also one of just three unanimous first team All-Big 12 selections by the league's head coaches. He was joined on the first team by Martin at linebacker, while Presley, Hale and linebacker Collin Oliver, who tied for No. 3 in the FBS with four forced fumbles on the year, were selected to the second team. They were each honored in their respective places on the Associated Press All-Big 12 team as well.

In the classroom, the Cowboys led all conference football teams with five 4.0 grade point averages on the Academic All-Big 12 team, including Jake Schultz, Peyton Thompson, Logan Ward, Zeke Zaragoza and Hale, who was also a first team selection to the 2023 CSC Academic All-America Team and a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy. With a total of 24 Big 12 football players registering a perfect GPA, more than a fifth of them were from Oklahoma State.

Those five were part of 29 Cowboys included on the Academic All-Big 12 First Team, which tied for the third-most of any football team in the conference. OSU's six additional second team selections brought the total number honored to 35 football players, which tied for the fifth-most in the 14-team conference.

Comeback Cowboys Add Another Double-Digit Win Season to OSU's History

Players Mentioned

Alan Bowman

Kendal Daniels

Ollie Gordon II

Alex Hale

Leon Johnson III

Nick Martin

Collin Oliver

Rashod Owens

Brennan Presley

Trey Rucker

Jake Schultz

Dylan Smith

Peyton Thompson

Logan Ward

Zeke Zaragoza

Oklahoma State University Athletics