Oklahoma State University Athletics
2017 Football Roster
Roster
Devin Harper
- Position:
- Linebacker
- Height:
- 6-1
- Weight:
- 240
- Class:
- Redshirt Freshman
- Hometown:
- Knoxville, TN
- High School:
- Karns
2020 Second Team Academic All-Big 12
2021 Team Captian (voted by teammates)
2021 Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (Coaches)
2021 First Team Academic All-Big 12
Career Highs
Tackles 10, vs. Oklahoma & Notre Dame, 2021
Sacks
TFL
Interceptions 1, twice, last at Kansas, 2020
An athletic linebacker who spent six years in the Cowboy football program ... Played mainly on special teams and in a reserve defensive role in his first five seasons ... Used an extra year of eligibility in 2021 after the NCAA ruling on COVID-19 and had a breakout year in his first season as a full-time starter ... Ended his career with 16 starts and 59 games played, with 216 tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, two interceptions, four pass breakups, 22 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, two fumbles recovered and a blocked punt.
2021 (Super Senior): Played an extra season after the NCAA COVID-19 ruling and had a breakout season in his first year as a full-time starter ... One of five players voted a team captain by his teammates ... An honorable mention All-Big 12 pick by the league’s head coaches ... First team Academic All-Big 12 ... Started 13 of OSU’s 14 games ... Finished the season as the team’s second leading tackler with 96 total tackles and 61 solo stops ... HIs 6.0 sacks were the third-most on the team and his 10.0 tackles for loss ranked fifth ... Led the team with 15 quarterback hurries to rank as the second-highest single season total since it started being tracked in 1982 ... Also added two pass breakups, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries ... Led the team in tackles in three games, including the wins over Texas, TCU and Texas Tech ... Set a career high with 10 tackles in both the Bedlam win over Oklahoma and the Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame, both of which were top-10 opponents ... Had at least seven total tackles in nine games ... Set career highs in the win at West Virginia with 2.0 sacks and 3.0 tackles for loss, both of which matched game highs for any Cowboy on the season ... One of the highlight performances of his career came in the OU win as he was the central figure in spying and shutting down OU quarterback Caleb Williams .. Recorded 10 tackles in the game with seven solo stops and hurried or tackled Williams on nine plays ... With less than two minutes remaining in the game and OSU clinging to a four-point lead, OU had driven inside the Cowboy 35-yard line when Harper hurried Williams into a throw-away, sacked him for a 5-yard loss and caught him from behind short of the first down marker on three consecutive plays to get the ball back to the Cowboys and help preserve the win ... WIth Harper spying Williams the majority of the game, just one of Williams’ 19 carries gained double-digit yards, and he averaged fewer than two yards per carry on the day ... Earned OSU Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in the game ... Earned OSU Defensive Player of the Week vs. Kansas after recording four tackles and two quarterback hurries in about one half of play ... Served as a game captain vs. Texas, West Virginia, in the Big 12 Championship and in the Fiesta Bowl.
2020 (Senior): A second team Academic All-Big 12 honoree ... Played in all 11 games, starting one ... Ranked sixth on the team with 37 tackles ... Of his 37 tackles, 23 came on opponent rush attempts ... Added 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception ... Broke up a pass and was credited with three quarterback hurries ... His interception came against Kansas ... Had a season-high five tackles against West Virginia and had four tackles against Kansas, Texas, TCU and Baylor ... Logged one sack against both Kansas and Texas, respectively.
2019 (Junior): Saw action in 10 games, earning his lone start against Baylor ... Played through pain and wore a cast for part of the season ... Credited with 34 tackles, 20 of which were solo stops ... Added three sacks, five tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry ... Harper’s five tackles on kickoff coverage ranked third on the team ... His three sacks came against Baylor, TCU and West Virginia, respectively ... Added a tackle for loss against Kansas State and assisted on tackles for loss against Texas and Kansas ... Logged a season-best six tackles against Kansas and was honored by the OSU coaches as the defensive MVP of the game ... Served as a game captain against West Virginia.
2018 (Sophomore): Finished with 44 tackles (32 solo), five tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, three quarterback hurries and a pass broken up ... Picked off a pass and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown against South Alabama ... Sacked Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien and forced a fumble on that play that was recovered by the Cowboys to help preserve OSU’s win over the 17th-ranked Broncos ... Was credited with a half-sack earlier in that same contest against Boise State ... Had a sack against West Virginia as part of the Cowboys’ win over the No. 7 Mountaineers ... Played in all 13 games and earned his first career start at Kansas ... Set a career high with nine tackles against the Jayhawks ... Had six tackles against Boise State and five against South Alabama ... Credited with a tackle for loss against TCU and Baylor and assisted on a tackle for loss against South Alabama ... A standout on special teams who ranked second on the team with four tackles on kickoff returns.
2017 (Freshman): Played in 11 games, primarily on special teams, though he did also rotate in at linebacker ... Two of his five tackles came on kickoffs ... Blocked a punt and returned it 12 yards at Texas Tech.
2016: Redshirt.
High School: Played for coach Tobi Kilgore at Karns … Played on both sides of the ball throughout his high school career … Averaged 213 all-purpose yards per game as a senior while logging 40 tackles on the defensive side … An all-district and all-state selection … Also competed in basketball and track and field … Actively involved with AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) at Karns.
Personal: Devin Harper was born May 13, 1998, in Atlanta … Son of Kevin and Alacia Harper … His father, Kevin, played college baseball ... Is the older brother of cornerback Thomas Harper ... Earned a Bachelor’s in University Studies in December of 2019 and is working on a Master’s in Leisure Studies.
