'He better get ready': Oklahoma State's Dominic Richardson prepping for heavy workload next season
Scott WrightOklahoman
STILLWATER — Mike Gundy seems to believe Dominic Richardson is ready to be Oklahoma State’s featured running back next fall.
The coach just wouldn’t say it directly.
“I don’t think he has a choice,” Gundy said of Richardson a couple weeks ago. “That’s what he’s been told.”
With the spring football finale set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium, it’s hard to know what fans can expect of Richardson in the straight practice format. No need to punish him too much in April.
Come Sept. 1 when the Cowboys step on the BPS turf to face Central Michigan, it will be quite clear what to expect of the junior from Bishop McGuinness High School.
“He’ll have his hands full in the first game,” Gundy said. “He’s gotta get ready to go. He could very well carry it 18-20 times in the first game.”
A year ago at this time, the Cowboys’ running back stable was overloaded. Richardson was part of a four-headed monster, at the time, led by sixth-year senior LD Brown and fifth-year senior power back Dezmon Jackson.
Jaylen Warren, who ultimately became the star of the show, was an unknown transfer from Utah State, and Richardson was a second-year player who had seen sparse opportunities to carry the ball as a freshman in 2020.
Now, Warren and Brown are pursuing NFL dreams and Jackson hit the transfer portal, landing at Sam Houston State.
Richardson is the only guy in the running back room with a meaningful carry in a college football game.
Is the 6-foot, 210-pound junior ready for the full workload in the Cowboy offense?
Richardson has shown the skills to be a reliable every-down back, as a runner, receiver and pass blocker. But through two years at OSU, he hasn’t been asked to be that guy on a regular basis.
Four times in his career has he carried the ball more than 10 times in a game, and two of them were blowout wins over Kansas. His best game was the 169-yard, three-touchdown performance against Baylor in the 2020 regular season finale. He also had 84 yards rushing and 20 receiving on 22 total touches at Texas Tech last year.
The Cowboys are still shopping the transfer portal for an experienced back to boost depth at the position, but even if they add someone, it’s likely Richardson will be in line for a hefty workload on a weekly basis in the fall.
“I have a lot to work on still,” he said. “It’s all mental, man. Just gotta drive forward. Nothing’s really changed. I’ve been waiting for this moment and I’ve been training myself for it, so I’m ready for it.”
OSU offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn feels Richardson is cut from the ideal mold for the Cowboy offense.
“Right out of the gate, he’s a tough kid,” Dunn said. “He’s gonna hit you. You know he’s gonna run with his pads down and he’s a violent runner. We hope that he holds up for a year, because he runs so hard all the time. Right now, he’s playing with a lot of confidence. He’s the guy. He showed it at times last year that he could carry the load, and now it’s his turn.”
Last year, Warren’s physical, one-cut running style meshed with the strengths of the offensive line and allowed Warren to rush for 1,216 yards and 11 touchdowns. In Richardson, Dunn sees a lot of similarities.
“He’s a really good fit for us and what we want to do on offense with some of the read-zone game and also the mid-zone game and getting downhill,” Dunn said. “We want to be fairly multiple at running the football, including our quarterback at times, but also be able to play power football with the tailback.”
Behind Richardson, the Cowboys have redshirt freshman Jaden Nixon and true freshman early enrollees Ollie Gordon and CJ Brown. It’s a trio that provides talent but virtually no experience at this point.
“The other guys will help him,” Gundy said of Richardson. “But… Jaden Nixon just showed up. And Ollie’s supposed to be going to the prom next week. CJ’s doing great, but he (should be) in high school.
“(Richardson is) doing well. He understands the type of back that he is. He’s a power back, and he’s gonna run through arm tackles and drop his pads and protect the football and grind. He’s gonna grind yards out.
“He better get ready.”
