Leon Johnson (first) and Ollie Gordon (third in a row) Honored by the Big 12

(Pokes Report publisher Robert Allen and editor Zach Lancaster contributed to this story.)

STILLWATER – For the third consecutive week, Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.

OSU receiver Leon Johnson has been named the Big 12 co-newcomer of the week.

Gordon rushed for 271 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 10.8 yards per carry in OSU's 45-13 win over Cincinnati Saturday night. The Bearcats entered the game with the Big 12's best rushing defense. They were No. 18 nationally in that category.

Gordon joins Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders as the only Oklahoma State players to rush for more than 250 yards in consecutive weeks. Gordon, a Fort Worth product from Euless Trinity High School, ran for 282 yards the previous week at West Virginia.

Gordon is the first player to three-peat as the conference's player of the week in 10 years.

What is scary is that Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy believes Gordon is going to continue to improve.

“Ollie is still young,” Gundy said at his weekly news conference on Monday. “He's only been here a year and a half and he's playing great, but he's still a young person and is learning. He can get valuable information from those who have been ahead of him and before him. So, we try to give him as much as possible."

Pat Kinnison - Chief Photographer

Gordon gets downhill in a hurry against Cincinnati.

The sophomore also joins Boston College's Andre Williams (2013) as the only two FBS players over the last 20 seasons with 250 scrimmage yards in three straight games. Gordon's rushing total marked the most for an FBS player last week and the fourth-most for an FBS player in a game this season. He has the No. 1 and No. 4 rushing games this year, as well as three of the top five yards from scrimmage games this year.  His past two games mark the most rushing yards for an OSU player in a two-game span (553) since Barry Sanders posted 625 yards against Iowa State and Texas Tech in 1988. The performance also made him the only Power Five player with multiple 200+ yard games on the ground this season.

Gordon has reached more than 1,000 rushing yards for the season in just eight games, marking the quickest a Cowboy has surpassed the mark since Chuba Hubbard needed just six games in 2019. He has five straight games with more than 100 rushing yards. Gordon and Hubbard are the only Cowboys since 2010 with five straight games of 100+ rushing yards. He has posted 11 total touchdowns in the past four games, including multiple scores in three straight games. Gordon is the FBS leader in rushing yards (1,087) and rushing yards per game (135.9). He also leads the nation in carries of 20 yards (15), 30 yards (12) and 40 yards (6). He is among the top 10 FBS players in rushing yards per carry (No. 2 - 7.71), all-purpose yards per game (No. 3 -  161.0), rushing touchdowns (No. 9 - 10) and total touchdowns (No. 10 - 11).

Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics

Johnson III on the run against Cincinnati.

Johnson made his first FBS start on Saturday after spending the last four years at George Fox in NCAA Division III. He hauled in his first FBS reception with three minutes remaining in the first quarter and finished the game with five catches for 149 yards, including a 67-yard gain in the second quarter. Johnson was the first player to surpass 100 receiving yards in his first OSU start since Tay Martin did so against Missouri State on Sept. 4, 2021. Johnson's receiving total marked the third-most in a Big 12 game this season.

"I think we were all surprised and very impressed with his performance in essentially his first game at this level,” Gundy said of Johnson III. “We had planned to red-shirt him, but I don’t think that is going to happen now. We talked about that a number of times, and until we get a young man on the field in a game, we never know what they can do. So, that's why we have tried to play as many as possible this year. Nobody would've thought that he could've come in at his first game in what was not a great day weather-wise for throwing and catching. It wasn't bad, but it was not like a normal day in September, October and perform at the level he did. He came in and did something we didn't know he could do in a conference game."

Obviously, the more weapons the better. Oklahoma State added one signifcant weapon in Leon Johnson III.

2023 Oklahoma State Big 12 Players of the Week

• Cameron Epps – Newcomer – vs. Kansas State
• Ollie Gordon II – Offensive – vs. Kansas
• Ollie Gordon II – Offensive – at West Virginia
• Ollie Gordon II – Offensive vs. Cincinnati
• Leon Johnson – Newcomer vs. Cincinnati