STILLWATER – I wanted to wait a little bit to write this article because I had just written about Trace Ford a few days before we got to speak with him at Oklahoma State’s Media Day last weekend.
However, you certainly can’t talk about a player like Trace too much, and the same goes for fellow LEO, and fellow Edmond Santa Fe standout, Collin Oliver. There’s something about that Santa Fe to Stillwater pipeline with edge rushers.
Trace, who was dominant his freshman and sophomore seasons, is back after sustaining back-to-back knee injuries, while Collin is fresh off a dominant freshman season in which he was tabbed the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and unanimously tabbed a Freshman All-American.
“I feel great, I feel excited, and I feel like a little kid again ready to get back out there and play,” Ford told me at Media Day. “A lot stronger, a lot more confident out there on the field. Just a lot more confident overall.”
Ford was tabbed All-Big 12 honorable mention in both 2019 and 2020, while also receiving votes for Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2019. He tore his ACL in the final game of the regular season against Baylor in 2020, then his other ACL prior to the 2021 season.
However, during those two seasons, he combined for 51 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 13 quarterback hurries and nine pass breakups.
"It's a challenge mentally, right? You know, you get injured and then you get injured again and it can be, I guess traumatic is probably a little extreme, but it can be a difficult experience when you take something away from somebody that they really love to do,” Mike Gundy said. “That's tough on young people. It’s tough on adults. And it happened to him and then he was all revved up and ready to go and then it happened again. And so, I was really worried about him coming back. He's got a good upbringing. He's got good support. But still, it's not easy. And he's healthy now. He feels good. So, we're bringing him along slow. We'll give a little more next week. And then the third week we'll put him in there and some contact and get him some action and then we'll get him in the game week. And I believe when we play the game, and we turn him loose, I think he'll play."
As for Collin, he’s coming off one of the best seasons Oklahoma State’s seen from a freshman in program history. He ranked seventh in the FBS, while setting an OSU freshman record with 11.5 sacks on the season. He finished the season with 29 total tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks and five quarterback hurries, which earned him Second Team All-Big 12 status by the coaches and Associated Press and the unanimous Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year.
The scary part about Collin, other than the obvious reasons? He’s added weight while not losing any of his speed or quickness off the edge.
“I definitely added more power to my arsenal,” said Collin Oliver. “Power rushes, they were always a necessity for me, and I feel like I needed them last year. So, now that [I’ve added weight], it’ll be pretty easier in terms of just pass rushing. So, I can’t wait to get out there with those guys and just put it to the test.”
While he’s bigger and stronger, Mike Gundy sees that trend continuing during Collin’s time in Stillwater.
"Yes, it is. I don’t need to talk about Coach Glass and what he does. Everybody knows what he does, but [Collin Oliver] doesn’t even look like the same person. It would be interesting, if they knew what we know now, how heavily recruited would he have been? He would have been a five-star, wouldn’t he? So, we hit a home run on him, and he needs to continue on, and I’ve had some discussions with him. For him to change his body like he did, in particular that he didn’t redshirt, because the guys that are in this incoming class that aren’t going to be in the two-deep, they lift and train differently with Coach Glass than the guys that are and playing, so he didn’t lift heavy during the season because he was playing. So August, September, October, November, December, he didn’t lift heavy, compared to if he would have been a guy that wasn’t on the field. His workload in the weight room would have been considerably different, and he would have had one more additional day a week, so he’s just getting started. It wouldn’t surprise me. What do we have him listed at now? (245) OK, so it would not surprise me at this time next year if he’s 260, because he hasn’t lifted heavy, but he’s a good one, no doubt."
He's already difficult to near impossible to handle. Can you imagine having to stop him if he weighs somewhere between 250-260?
We’ve heard from guys like Brock Martin how Trace has looked really good this summer during workouts and how he hasn’t lost his step. With Trace being healthy again and ready to get back into full heavy contact in the coming days of Fall Camp, combined with a 20-30 pounds heavier Collin Oliver, I wouldn’t want to be a tackle that has to face those two this season.
Let's hope it keeps going and going and going! Santa Fe has a tremendous coaching staff as well!backphil said:
Brandon Weeden was the "first fruits" of that Santa Fe to Stillwater pipeline!
