Oklahoma State University Athletics
2024 Cowboy Football Roster
Roster
Trey Rucker
- Height:
- 6-0
- Class:
- Redshirt Senior
- Hometown:
- Waldorf, MD
- High School:
- Flint Hill (VA)
Career Highs
Tackles 17 vs. Arkansas, 2024
TFL 2.0 at West Virginia, 2023
Passes Broken Up 1, 4x, last at Colorado, 2024
Interceptions 2 vs. Utah, 2024
Sacks No career sacks
A talented safety with big play production who began his career at Wake Forest ... Played in 58 FBS games with 34 starts.
2024 (Super Senior): Played in 11 games with 11 starts, missing the game at BYU to injury ... Ranked eighth in the Big 12 and 68th in the FBS with 7.6 tackles per game ... Finished the year with 84 tackles to lead the team by more than 20 ... 53 of those were solo stops and one was a tackle for loss ... Recorded at least one tackle in every game he played with highs of 17 against Arkansas, 15 against South Dakota State, 14 against Utah and 10 at Kansas State ... Named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week against South Dakota State ... Added two interceptions for the year, with both of them coming against Utah ... On the Bednarik Award “Who’s Hot” list against SDSU and Utah ... His 17 tackles against Arkansas tied for the most for any Big 12 player in a game all season ... Served as a game captain against Tulsa.
2023 (Senior): One of nine Cowboys and seven defenders to start all 14 games ... Finished the year with 100 tackles to rank third on the team and 62 were solo stops ... Teamed with linebacker Nick Martin and safety Kendal Daniels 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 ... Also had 4.0 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, an interception and a pass breakup ... Made one of the highlights of the season against BYU ... With the Cowboys leading, 40-34, in the second possession of double overtime, he wrestled down a 6-6, 255-pound tight end while ripping out the ball right before the ball-carrier was down, then immediately recovered the ball while still on the ground to complete the win and send the Cowboys to the Big 12 Championship game ... Had an earlier fumble recovery in that game inside the red zone to set up a score, to go along with six tackles ... The performance against BYU earned him Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week and OSU’s defensive MVP honor ... Made another game-changing play at Houston, returning an interception 29 yards to the UH 22-yard line to set up a Cowboy touchdown and jump start an OSU comeback win ... Had at least four tackles in every game, with highs of 11 against Kansas State, 10 against Houston and nine against West Virginia and Oklahoma ... His pass breakup came on a third down play in the Texas Bowl win over Texas A&M ... Served as a game captain against BYU.
2022: Redshirt ... Saw action only in the final game, making a big impact in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Wisconsin ... Broke up a third-down pass on the five-yard line to force a field goal on the Badgers’ first possession of the game ... On the next Wisconsin possession, he caught a Wisconsin ball-carrier from behind on the far side of the field to prevent a touchdown and then intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it to the OSU 16-yard line, which jump-started a one-play Cowboy touchdown drive ... Made three tackles in the game and two were solo stops.
2021 (Junior): Played in all 14 games in his first season at Oklahoma State, mostly on special teams ... Had a season-high three tackles in the win at West Virginia, two-tackle games against Kansas, TCU and Oklahoma and one tackle against Iowa State ... One of his tackles against the Jayhawks was for a loss ... Earned OSU’s Co-Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in OSU’s Bedlam win over No. 10 Oklahoma ... Finished the year with 10 total tackles.
2020 (Sophomore at Wake Forest): Played in five of Wake Forest’s nine games ... Finished the year with 19 total tackles, including 12 solo stops ... Grabbed the second interception of his career against Syracuse ... Also credited with a pass breakup on the year ... Had a season-best eight tackles in the win at Syracuse.
2019 (Freshman at Wake Forest): Made nine starts while appearing in all 13 games as a true freshman ... Tied for fourth on the team with 65 tackles, the fourth-most by a Wake Forest freshman ... Finished fourth among freshmen in the ACC in tackles per game at 5.0 … Saw his first action and made the first interception of the year in the end zone vs. Utah State ... Ended the season with 10 tackles each in the regular season finale at Syracuse and vs. Michigan State in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl ... Recorded tackles for loss against Florida State and Clemson ... Tied for the team lead with six tackles against NC State ... Tied for team lead in tackles at Syracuse and led the team in stops vs. Michigan State ... His 661 snaps were the most among Wake’s true freshmen in 2019 ... Recorded a game-high of 81 plays against Syracuse ... Received his first varsity letter.
High School: A team captain at Flint Hill ... Ranked as a three-star athlete by 247Sports and ESPN ... Considered one of the top 25 prospects in Virginia by Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN ... Helped Flint Hill to the 2018 Virginia Division I state championship ... A first team all-state selection as a senior and junior ... Three-time All-Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference honoree ... Flint Hill’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2018 ... Helped the Huskies to consecutive 11-0 seasons under coach Tom Verbanic ... Had 18 receptions for 404 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior ... Had a 60-yard punt return touchdown and an interception against Maret ... As a junior in 2017 he made 13 catches for 298 yards and two touchdowns while adding 55 tackles, four tackles for loss, and three interceptions ... Caught four passes, two for touchdowns, as a sophomore in 2016.
Personal: Son of Reggie Rucker and Mellissa Willoby ... Economics major.
