South Dakota State preparing for 'unbelievable' Ollie, three NFL receivers and a hall of fame coach
- Aug 29, 2024
Tyler Waldrep
OSU Sports WriterIt certainly sounds like South Dakota State understands the assignment this week.
Stop Ollie Gordon from jump-starting his Heisman Trophy campaign with a big game in Saturday’s opener.
“Yeah, if you give him a seam, he can go the distance,” South Dakota State coach Jimmy Rogers said. “He's extremely fast. … He does a great job of making the first guy miss, and if he can make the first guy miss, he can easily get eight to 10 yards, because he is so fast, so it's going to take a full swarm of the ball for 60 minutes in this game to slow him down.”
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Gordon forced 68 missed tackles last season, which ranked 13th among running backs.
Gordon ranked first with 31 designed runs of at least 15 yards last season, and among backs who forced at least 50 missed tackles, Gordon ranked second with at least 54.8 percent of his designed runs, resulting in at least a 15-yard gain.
The South Dakota State coach, who described Gordon as “unbelievable,” compared him to former Jackrabbit and current Cleveland Brown, Pierre Strong.
“Pierre Strong was extremely fast,” Rogers said. “He's bigger than Pierre, and he's extremely physical, so yeah, we're gonna have to be multiple in defense.”
Despite only carrying the ball 73 times in his first two NFL seasons, Strong has forced 12 missed tackles and is gaining at least 15 yards on 35 percent of his attempts. He’s also averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
Of course, that’s a far cry from his South Dakota State days when he rushed for 4,495 yards and averaged 7.1 yards while carrying the ball 630 times across the 2018, 19 and 21 seasons.
Despite the respect Rogers heaped on Gordon, the South Dakota State coach hasn’t overlooked the rest of Oklahoma State’s offense. He referenced quarterback Alan Bowman, but seemed especially concerned with Oklahoma State’s receivers when discussing how the Jackrabbits will be unable to rely on loading the box against Gordon.
“Three NFL wide receivers on their roster, probably more, but on film it's significant that those guys are playmakers for them,” Rogers said.
He is almost certainly referring to Oklahoma State’s starting trio of Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens and De’Zhaun Stribling.
“Couple days away from playing what I believe is arguably one of the best programs in college football today,” Rogers said. “I think it's, you know, coach Gundy has done an unbelievable job. … being one of the longest-tenured coaches in Power Four football. He’s a hall of fame coach, and I think it shows with the roster.”
Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon forced 68 missed tackles in 2023.
Mike Simons, Tulsa World
