Freshman Collin Oliver Has Monster Game in First-Career Start

STILLWATER – After Oklahoma State took a 24-14 lead with a Jaylen Warren touchdown with 2:10 left to go in the game, Baylor quarterback Gerry Bohanon was looking to march the Bears down the field looking for a score and a chance to recover an onside kick in an attempt for a last-second win.

With 1:13 left in the fourth quarter, Bohanon lined up in a 4th and 10 situation from the Oklahoma State 43-yard line to try and extend the game. The Cowboys had given up a 4th down situation for a touchdown earlier in the game, so the Cowboys were looking to make a stop. Bohanon rolls out but is brought down by true freshman Collin Oliver for a sack and a turnover on downs, effectively sealing the game for the Pokes.

That marked Oliver’s second sack on the night as he finished with six total tackles, five of which were solo stops, two sacks, three tackles for loss and three quarterback hurries in his first career start. Redshirt senior Brock Martin missed the game following a dislocated elbow against Kansas State.

There’s just something in the water down at Edmond Santa Fe as Oliver is now a part of a long line of extremely talented edge rushers that includes current Cowboy Trace Ford and former OSU edge/LB Calvin Bundage.

“He’s gonna get to the quarterback a bunch in his career,” said Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. With three guys out at the LEO position, Trace Ford for the season and Brock Martin and Tyren Irby should be back for Texas, Oliver saw a significant number of snaps against Baylor. However, as Jim Knowles alluded to in his postgame comments, Oliver arriving in the spring was a big part of his development which has led to a significant amount of playing time through the first five games.

“We kind of knew last spring, right? Because all three of those guys were out, Trace [Ford, Brock [Martin] and [Tyren] Irby were all out last spring,” said coach Knowles. “So, Collin Oliver comes in here when he should’ve been at his senior prom, and he had like 600 reps during the spring. So, we knew we had something special with him.”

While Oliver and the rest of the defensive line played well, Knowles is looking forward to the upcoming open week leading into the Texas game. Both Brock Martin and Tyren Irby should be back at some point this week, which obviously gives the Pokes a boost moving forward.

“Just to get healthy,” Jim Knowles said of using the bye week. “Our guys have played hard; it’s a physical game, our guys played physical, they run, they chase the ball. We need to get healed up, we need to get Tyren [Irby] back and Brock [Martin] back, even though hats off to Collin Oliver with his first start as a freshman. I thought he did great.”