Ollie Gordon might still be running.
Flashback to almost a year ago, the last time Oklahoma State and West Virginia played, and the fourth quarter was owned by Ollie Gordon.
In OSU's win last season, Gordon rushed for a total of 282 yards and four touchdowns with almost 150 of those yards along with three of those scores coming in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys' 48-34 win in Morgantown last season.
That image has not escaped WVU head coach Neal Brown who knows Gordon is still the guy to beat on this Oklahoma State offense.
"It starts with Ollie Gordon, he's special. I don't know if we tackled him yet from last year's fourth quarter but he's a special player," Brown said.
So far this season, Gordon's numbers have not been as eye-catching as they were a year ago, but Brown said that doesn't mean his defense will still not zero in on him.
Gordon has 334 rushing yards and four touchdowns this season, along with 12 catches for 80 yards.
Gordon seemed primed for a coming-out party this past week against Kansas State, rushing for 72 yards on nine carries in the first quarter alone. However, he would finish the day with 15 carries for 76 yards, not seeing the field in the fourth quarter.
"Well, he got going a couple games prior to us last year. And he played well early in that game, I think he got banged up a little bit, but he played really well early against Kansas State," Brown said.
WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley is not letting Gordon's lack of big numbers fool him after what happened last season. Lesley said he does not care what his numbers are going into this game after he's seen firsthand what Gordon can do.
"And I know there's some questions around he hasn't had those statistics, I put zero stock into that. I've seen that kid at his best. He is a, he's an elite player and it was about this time last year where they figured out ways to get him, to get him going. So I don't really put a whole lot of stock into that," Lesley said.
WVU linebacker Trey Lathan was not on the field last year against Oklahoma State after he sustained a season-ending injury. However, he knows how his group played and what they did wrong against Gordon last season.
"Definitely at linebacker, we had a couple key plays where we didn't spill a correct guy and he shot off. It kind of bothered me a little bit that I wasn't out there to help my team and especially help Ben Cutter in that situation," Lathan said.
Lathan added the emphasis is stopping their run game and then adjusting to their quick pass offense.
"We definitely want to try and contain him and stop their run game because we know the quarterback is going to be quick throws, little quick, easy access throws. But we're mainly just trying to get them and keep them inside the box," Lathan said.
Gordon was the winner of the Doak Campbell Award in 2023, given to the best running back in the country. Lathan said despite the slow start, he knows Gordon could be due but isn't letting that change his mindset on how they're going to attack Gordon as a defense.
"We're going to go out there and try to punch him in the face and he definitely not going to be due against us," Lathan said.
Overall, if West Virginia gets out of Stillwater with a win on Saturday, it's because of them being able to stop — or at least limit — Gordon's success on the ground.
"You've got to play these guys saying, hey, we've got to figure out how we're going to stop Ollie Gordon. You know, I think that's the mentality, and stop's not the right word. We've got to figure out a way to contain him. And I think everything in the game plan then feeds off that," Brown said.
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