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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
STILLWATER, Okla. — The final Bedlam for the foreseeable future looks markedly different for Oklahoma State than it did a month ago.
The Cowboys, who raced past Cincinnati 45-13 on Saturday thanks to a 35-point second half, have won four straight games, sit in a five-way tie atop the Big 12 standings and have a running back putting up Barry Sanders-like numbers.
“It’s great. The team chemistry, the team bonding … everything’s getting better, and as we grow closer to each other, nobody can stop us,” said Ollie Gordon II, who rushed for 271 yards on 25 carries and scored two touchdowns.
The Cowboys (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) look nothing like they did to close out September, when they lost back-to-back games to South Alabama and Iowa State. A bye week ensued, and the biggest difference once the calendar flipped to October was that Gordon became the Cowboys’ go-to running back.
And he took off.
“We saw a glimpse when we played West Virginia last November,” Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said about Gordon’s potential. “I kind of joke, but it’s like trying to tackle a giraffe. The guy is so long. He’s got limbs everywhere, and he’s still really powerful. If you stand behind him and practice, there’s freaking muscles everywhere. I hate saying awkward, but he’s got this awkwardness that it’s hard to tackle and then he’s got enough speed to put it in the end zone like we saw tonight. So right now, he’s playing with a lot of confidence, and the offensive line’s blocking with a lot of confidence.”
Gordon, a 6-foot-1, 211-pound sophomore, was coming off a 282-yard performance in the win over West Virginia a week ago. He and Sanders (1988) are the only two players in program history with back-to-back games of 250-plus rushing yards. Sanders’ 1988 season is widely regarded as the best individual season in college football history when he rushed for 2,850 yards, scored 44 touchdowns and broke 34 records.
Gordon, who carried the ball just 19 times in the first three games this season, is one of only two FBS players over the past 20 seasons with 250 scrimmage yards in three straight games. Boston College‘s Andre Williams also did it in 2013. Two weeks ago in a 39-32 win over Kansas, Gordon had 168 rushing yards and 116 receiving yards.
He has had five straight 100-yard rushing performances, piling up 978 yards in those five games while averaging 8.01 yards per carry during that stretch.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy played with Sanders and Thurman Thomas in college and delivered a stern message to Gordon in the first half after he lost a fumble and showed his frustration and emotion on the sideline.
“There’s a lot of pressure involved, and he’s a very prideful young man, and that’s good,” Gundy said. “But what I shared with him is that I’ve been around the greatest running backs to ever play this game. None of them did that. They all learn to keep their composure.”
That’s exactly what Gordon did in rushing for more than 200 yards in the second half for the second straight week.
“He’s still young and he’s got a long ways to go in his career, but he has changed considerably over the last five weeks with us condensing our running game,” Gundy said. “He’s not arrived, but we have to give him credit for what he’s done. It’s not like it’s the first game he’s done this, but I’ve told him and I’ll tell him again when I see him tomorrow or Monday. He has to stay hungry, and he has to stay humble — period — or he’ll get his block knocked off.”
After the game, Gordon was holding a large bouquet of roses given to him by his mother and aunt. Chants of “Ollie, Ollie” filled a rainy Boone Pickens Stadium when he left the field.
Gordon said hearing his name mentioned in the same sentence with Sanders is surreal, but he is not about to get ahead of himself. As much as anything, he wanted to talk about his offensive line late Saturday night.
“It’s great to be talked about with greats like Barry Sanders. I mean, he won a Heisman Trophy and is one of the best to ever do it,” Gordon said. “It’s a special feeling, but I couldn’t do any of it without the guys in front of me. They’re the ones who deserve all the praise.”
Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman said watching the entire running game click the way it has for the past month has been amazing.
“I’ve got the best seat in the house to watch it, and it’s been pretty cool,” Bowman said.
Nobody needs to tell Gordon or any of the Oklahoma State players that next Saturday’s game with Oklahoma will be the last chance they get at the Sooners, at least in the regular season. With Oklahoma, which has won 17 of the past 20 meetings in the series, moving to the SEC in 2024, the two rivals aren’t expected to meet again anytime soon.
Gordon, asked what he expected from the last Bedlam in a while, said simply, “I expect the Pokes to come out on top.”
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