Oklahoma State's Run Game Enters Spring Healthier Than Last Year

STILLWATER – It’s officially (spring) football season in Stillwater once again. The Cowboys lined it up in the Sherman Smith Indoor on Tuesday afternoon, which includes nearly 30 newcomers, both freshmen and out of the transfer portal.

Among those newcomers are Michigan State transfer running back Elijah Collins and Texas State transfer offensive lineman Dalton Cooper, both additions who will most likely slot into the starting lineup come August.

You can also throw Iowa transfer receiver/running back Arland Bruce IV into the mix as he can play out of the slot and backfield.

Head coach Mike Gundy met with the media ahead of practice on Tuesday afternoon and spoke at length about the offensive line and running backs.

“They’ve had a good offseason,” Gundy said of the offensive line. “You guys know this, we were hurt last spring. We had 19 guys on the bikes last year, that’s an exaggeration, but there was a waiting line for the bikes over there like Planet Fitness. We don’t have any [on the bikes]. That hurt us last spring. The majority of our offensive line did not practice last spring and whether we like it or not, that hurt us. We’re further ahead just from that standpoint. We have a legitimate three-and-a-half deep at every position. One thing the portal’s done is allowed us to have three-and-a-half deep, we’re gonna rotate guys through.”

Not only did the Pokes enter the spring last year banged up, they lost and handful of linemen to injury throughout the spring, including Cole Birmingham, who slots into the starting lineup this season.

The Cowboys’ run game in the 2022 season left a lot to be desired. They averaged 125.6 yards a game and just 3.4 yards per carry. They also scored just 20 touchdowns on the ground.

Two young guys who played a good bulk of snaps last season out of necessity are Ollie Gordon II and Jaden Nixon. Gordon is coming off a decent freshman season in which he posted 326 yards and two touchdowns on 62 carries. Nixon posted 139 yards on 32 carries.

While those numbers aren’t great, it’s tough for a younger and inexperienced back to have a lot of success at this level. The important thing is they’ve had a very good offseason and are taking the necessary steps to the next level.

“They’re bigger and stronger and faster,” Gundy said of both Ollie Gordon and Jaden Nixon. “We got a lot out of Ollie [Gordon] last year as a true freshman, that’s a difficult role for a young man to play, specifically running back that takes a lot of hits we saw signs of him doing really good things, then there was also some times of fatigue. The fatigue should lessen this year based on maturity and strength. Same thing with Jaden [Nixon].”

As mentioned above, the Cowboys have brought in an experience and talented back in Michigan State transfer, Elijah Collins.

“[Elijah Collins] is kind of like [Alan Bowman],” Gundy said of Collins. “Experienced, played at Michigan State in a physical league. He played in the I [formation], the quarterback under center some, gonna run the ball inside, gonna get banged around. Had success, great attitude and wanted to be here. That was part of it, the portal is so crazy now that it’s hard to get your arms around, but we tried to bring players who wanted to be here that weren’t coming here out of desperation. He was one of those guys who really wanted to be here.”

I’m not sure there’s too much we’re going to learn from spring football. Depth charts won’t be set, injuries very well could happen and we’ll most likely see a handful of guys leave and brought in once the transfer portal window opens back up following the spring.

However, we’re going to get a good look at the offensive line and the depth and we’ll get our chances to watch the improvements and gains in physicality and maturity for both Gordon and Nixon have made in the offseason.