Ollie Gordon II embracing lofty expectations as 2024 season looms

LAS VEGAS — After winning the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back, the All-American is shifting his focus to a season full of anticipation and excitement in Stillwater.

Ollie Gordon emerged out of a crowded backfield last season, and took the Big 12 by storm, so he’s not afraid of the spotlight. The junior rusher understands that all eyes are going to be on him as Oklahoma State approaches fall camp.

Now Gordon wants to put his best foot forward leading up to the kickoff against South Dakota State, after a DUI arrest put his career in jeopardy earlier this month. The last thing Gordon wants is for his personal mistakes to be a team distraction. So he often takes a deep look in the mirror to remind himself of the man he wants to be.

The big man on campus is what Gordon seems to be at the moment, and there’s plenty of responsibility that comes with being the face of the program. After all, he appears to be the Cowboys’ best running back since Barry Sanders. A lot of fans believe that’s the main reason why Coach Mike Gundy decided not to suspend Gordon.

However, Gundy has kept a close eye on Gordon throughout his career, and believes he’s taking the right steps towards changing the narrative of his incident behind the wheel. In Gundy’s eyes Gordon has put in a lot of work around the community, and that’s why everyone is rallying behind him through this time of uncertainty.

“He went above and beyond to give out to people, and he’s a great young man that made a decision that he would love to have back,” Gundy said. “He made a terrible mistake that he got off lightly because nobody got hurt.”

Who knows what kind of discipline Gundy has in store for Gordon behind closed doors, but the Heisman hopeful is using everything as fuel for the fall. No doubt opposing Defensive Coordinators are going to be game-planning around Gordon, and he’s perfectly fine with that. Stacking the box with defenders is only going to open up the play-action pass, and the Cowboys have weapons. Gordon could care less about having a bullseye on his jersey though.

“I feel like it’s a great thing for us, which opens up the passing game,” Gordon said. “Our quarterback, we have great receivers, we definitely have the best receives in the Big 12, so good luck guarding them I guess.”

Gordon strongly believes Oklahoma State’s offense has the potential to be prolific. Gundy will field a veteran team this season, and they’re all hungry for a Big 12 Title, after coming up short at Jerry’s World last year. The Big 12 Preseason Media Poll that was released earlier this month had the Cowboys at No. 3, but Gordon felt it wasn’t a high enough recognition.

“Last year I don’t think we were top-three to make it to the Big 12 Championship, and the fact that we did, and had a 10-win season, so I feel as a team we don’t really pay polls attention,” he said. “That’s just people’s opinion, and everybody got opinions, so who really cares.”

The players will have a chip on their shoulders, and want to prove the doubters wrong again, despite being in a deeper league full of parity. Gordon just wants to represent for what he feels is Running Back U. The Texas native knows all about the legendary rushers who came before him like Thurman Thomas and Sanders, and now he plans on carving deep into his own legacy. He even said his goal is to eclipse 2,000 yards.

Regardless of the matter, Gordon is going to be sure to put the team first in everything he does. From this point moving forward he’s confident Oklahoma State will have more success in 2024.

“I feel like as long as we stay true with each other, go about everything how we go, we’ll be fine.”