Bill Haisten: So important for OSU – more production from backup running backs
- Aug 25, 2024 Updated 2 hrs ago
Bill Haisten
here are signs that Oklahoma State may have its best offensive line in more than a decade, so let’s presume the 2024 Cowboys get above-average blocking.
If that is the case, a major storyline is what happens behind that line.
OSU’s bid for the Big 12 title hinges on quarterback Alan Bowman, who needs the support of a great run game that involves a productive No. 2 running back.
Aug. 22, 2024 video courtesy of OSU Athletics. Gordon is the 2023 Doak Walker Award winner.
Only a few days before the Cowboys open against South Dakota State, there isn’t a clearly defined guy at an incredibly key position – the No. 2 running back position.
At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, former Indiana Hoosier Trent Howland is competing against redshirt freshman Sesi Vailahi to be that No. 2 option in the run game.
Because practices are closed to the media, I don’t know whether there is indecision on the Howland-Vailahi pecking order because they’ve both been really good or maybe because they’ve been inconsistent.
If Oklahoma State can squeeze another 285-carry, 1,732-yard season from Ollie Gordon, then Bowman, Gundy and everyone else are happy and the Cowboys should cook offensively.
In OSU history, however, only one running back totaled as many as 285 carries in consecutive seasons. Terry Miller had 314 attempts in 1976 and 314 more in 1977. That’s an immense amount of punishment on a ball-carrier’s shoulders and knees.
“The perfect scenario for us,” Gundy says, “would be Ollie to stay healthy all year long and carry the ball 20 times a game.”
That would result in a regular-season total of 240 carries, but OSU’s goals extend well beyond the regular season. There is the desire for another Big 12 Championship game appearance, the Big 12 title and a ticket to the 12-team College Football Playoff.
“I have confidence in the other guys who are going to carry the ball,” Gundy continued, “but I also know the more times that Ollie touches the ball – and we can get (defenders) blocked up – it is going to make us a better team.”
As the returning veteran quarterback from a 10-win squad, Bowman now is the second-oldest Cowboy QB ever. By the midway mark of Brandon Weeden’s final OSU season – the historic 2011 season – he was 28. The best quarterback in OSU history now is 40.
At 24, Bowman is the first Cowboy QB to get a seventh season of eligibility and the first Cowboy QB to really capitalize on NIL. The overall value of his 2024 compensation is believed to be in the $400,000 neighborhood.
In 14 games last year, Bowman completed 61% of his passes for 3,460 yards, with 15 TD passes against 14 interceptions. In Year 2 in the OSU system, he should be more efficient.
It’s still critically important, though, to complement the Bowman passing game with a strong run game.
Several of Gundy’s better ground-game teams had reliable, dynamic backup running backs.
In 2006, OSU got a combined 1,177 rushing yards from backup running backs Keith Toston and Mike Hamilton.
As Dantrell Savage’s backup in 2007, Kendall Hunter ran for 696 yards.
For the 2008 Cowboys, Toston and Beau Johnson were backfield backups who combined for 1,043 yards.
In 2010, Gundy got 714 yards and 10 touchdowns from backups Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith.
Last season, Oklahoma State got only 366 yards from backup running backs.
Former Cowboy QB Mason Rudolph flourished even when the Cowboy run game was quiet. Example: Against eighth-ranked TCU in 2015, OSU running backs totaled only 55 yards on 14 carries. The Cowboys were 49-29 winners, however, because Rudolph was an efficient 16-of-24 passing for 352 yards and five touchdowns with zero turnovers.
From the combination of Howland and Vailahi this season, can there be a 714-yard, 10-touchdown type of performance that would lighten the pressure not only on Gordon but on Bowman?
OSU’s other perfect scenario would have Bowman achieving a significant reduction in interceptions and a significant increase in TD passes, while lifting his success rate on completions from 61% to 68%.
A better Bowman in combination with a healthy Gordon and a more robust contribution from Gordon’s backups: the result probably would make Gundy’s 20th season one to remember.
