Trent Howland One of the Few Bright Spots On Oklahoma State’s Lone Scoring Drive
There wasn't much to write home about in Oregon’s 69-3 drubbing of Oklahoma State. But running back Trent Howland gave fans a taste of his physical style of running, albeit in a small sample size.
Howland was one of the main features of the Cowboys’ 16 play, 69-yard drive, which took nearly eight minutes across the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter, resulting in a Logan Ward field goal.
“I give it up to my teammates, teammates and coaches first for even giving me the opportunity to trust me to go out there,” Howland told Robert Allen. “Then it starts with the o-line after that, my boys held up, did their jobs and what they’re supposed to do, and it just went from there. I made the right reads, I knew to run behind my pads, get downhill and make the most of what I had.”
Again, in a small sample size, but Howland showed his physicality off during this drive. He had five carries for 29 of his 31 yards, which included two first downs.
“That’s what coach [Cory] Patterson preaches in the room, downhill bully and you gotta run behind your pads. Don’t let that first guy bring you down and I thought I showcased that a little bit when I was out there running.”
Obviously, it wasn’t enough. Nothing the Cowboys did against the Ducks was enough as it was the second-worst loss in program history, dating back 118 years to a 66-point loss to OU in 1907.
But Howland certainly gave Cowboy fans a little bit of hope in the moment, finally getting to see him play this season, and did so well. Unfortunately, he had just one more carry for two yards, which is disappointing in more ways than one.
The most disappointing is his left the game after turning his ankle, which was announced by coach Gundy in the postgame press conference.
Hopefully, it’s just a turned ankle, and not one that will need a lot of time to heal because this is one of the most critical weeks in the history of Cowboy football. They have a hungry Tulsa team coming to Stillwater next Friday. A Tulsa team which hasn’t beating the Cowboys since 1998 or beaten the Pokes in Stillwater since 1951. Howland is going to need to get more carries on Sept. 19th. The offensive line is going to need to protect Zane Flores better and open up holes for running backs better. Or else this is going to be an even harder start to the season.
