Oklahoma State Cowboys Offensive Players to Watch vs. Texas Longhorns
The No. 7 Texas Longhorns and No. 20 Oklahoma State Cowboys are both headed to Arlington, Texas this weekend to face off in the Big 12 title game.
The Longhorns are looking to not only leave the Big 12 on a high note and win their first conference title since 2009, but they are also looking to punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff. The Cowboys on the other hand are looking to win one for the Big 12 teams that are staying and continue their journey as one of the better teams down the stretch.
While they do have one of the more experienced quarterbacks in the country in Alan Bowman, they heavily rely on their run game to facilitate their offense.
Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II
© BRYAN TERRY/THE Oklahoman
Here are the players to watch on Oklahoma State's offense on Saturday when Texas faces the Cowboys.
RB Ollie Gordon II
If Gordon was having the season he is having over a decade ago, he'd be the surefire winner of the Heisman trophy. He leads the country in rushing yards with 1,580 and is second in the country in rushing touchdowns with 20.
The Cowboys don't have the most dynamic passing attack, but they don't ask much of their quarterback. Instead, they hand the ball off to Gordon 20 times a game, as he rushes for 6.4 yards per carry which is good enough to rank No. 9 in the country. Their next most productive back has 195 carries less and has just 197 yards on the year, meaning that Mike Gundy's squad will ride the Gordon train until the wheels fall off this weekend.
WR Brennan Presley
While they have had more electric passing attacks in years past, one thing has been constant in the passing game this year and it is senior wide receiver Brennan Presley making plays. He has a career-high 76 catches, is 77 yards short of surpassing his career high in receiving, and needs just one more touchdown to surpass his career high in receiving touchdowns. The 5-foot-8 speedster is seemingly always open and will push the Texas secondary this weekend, as they look to just feed him the ball in open space.
QB Alan Bowman
It feels fair to say that Alan Bowman has had quite the fall from grace over his college career. He went from being viewed as Texas Tech's next Patrick Mahomes to a glorified grad assistant at Michigan where he played sparingly. He no longer is the Bowman that we saw throw for 17 scores to seven picks his freshman year, but nonetheless, he has a decent arm, and provided stability for the offense.
He's completing 59.9% of his passes while throwing for 2,800 yards and 10 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. If he isn't pressured enough he is more than capable a passer, which means Texas needs to not only take Gordon out of the game, but make Bowman uncomfortable if they want to win the crown.
