Oklahoma

5 greatest Oklahoma State football players of all time, ranked

Published

2 years ago

January 7, 2023

5 greatest Oklahoma State football players of all time, ranked

Oklahoma State soccer has fielded some unimaginable gamers all through the many years. Whereas not discovering the championship success of a few of their rivals, the Cowboys have nearly all the time been related because of the celebs on the sector. As we speak, we’re going to rank the highest 5 gamers in Oklahoma State soccer historical past. Though let’s be trustworthy, everybody already is aware of who the highest spot belongs to.

Earlier than we get to the listing correct, although, now we have some honorable mentions at hand out. The primary of two is defensive again Mark Moore (1983-86), a two-time All-American who nonetheless has the second-most interceptions in class historical past with 16. The one participant he trails is our different honorable point out, Bob Fenimore (1943-46), who holds the college document with 18 interceptions and led the nation in whole offense in 1944 and 1945.

With these honorable mentions lined, listed below are the highest 5 biggest Oklahoma State soccer gamers of all time.

5. RB Terry Miller, 1974-77

A number of the most dominant rushers to ever play soccer have donned the Oklahoma State uniform. The primary of three on this listing, and the primary chronologically, is Terry Miller. Miller won’t be as well-known as the opposite two working backs afterward the listing, however he was a dominant rusher in his personal proper.

In his faculty profession, Miller rushed 871 occasions for 4,754 yards and 49 touchdowns. He completed fourth in Heisman voting in 1976 and second in 1977, racking up greater than 1,600 yards and 14 touchdowns in each seasons. A 2022 School Soccer Corridor of Fame inductee, Miller is second in class historical past in each dashing yards and dashing touchdowns.

4. DE Leslie O’Neal, 1982-85

Leslie O’Neal, a 2020 School Soccer Corridor of Fame inductee, is the best defender in Oklahoma State soccer historical past. His specialty was getting after the quarterback, as he’s the Cowboys’ all-time sack chief with 34. His 16 sacks in 1984 are additionally a faculty document in a single season.

O’Neal was an All-American in each 1984 and unanimously in 1985 , and the Cowboys’ protection dominated. Throughout each seasons, Oklahoma State allowed 20 or extra factors simply thrice. For anchoring an unimaginable protection and being extremely dominant on his personal, O’Neal has greater than earned his spot as Oklahoma State’s all-time finest defender.

3. WR Justin Blackmon, 2009-11

Over the past decade and alter, Oklahoma State has had a knack for producing elite receivers. Dez Bryant discovered essentially the most success on the skilled degree, however Justin Blackmon was truly essentially the most profitable in faculty. Blackmon was a unanimous All-American in each 2010 and 2011, and boy did he earn it.

Blackmon performed sparingly in 2009 however dominated in 2010 with 1,782 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns, each single-season college information. He adopted that up with 1,522 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2011, main Oklahoma State soccer to a top-three end. He gained the Biletnikoff Award each years, turning into solely the second participant to win it twice after Michael Crabtree.

Blackmon is second in class historical past in receptions and receiving touchdowns and third in receiving yards. Though, if he performed a full 4 seasons, he would have shattered all three information. Though he couldn’t escape controversy in his temporary time within the NFL, nobody can deny how dominant Blackmon was at Oklahoma State.

2. RB Thurman Thomas, 1984-87

At practically another college, Thurman Thomas could be the best rusher and possibly even the best participant of all time. Nonetheless, his personal faculty teammate simply so occurs to be arguably the best faculty soccer participant ever. That stated, Thomas was nonetheless a fully unimaginable participant in his personal proper.

Thomas is Oklahoma State’s all-time main rusher with 4,847 profession dashing yards. He additionally rushed for 43 touchdowns, which additionally locations very extremely within the college’s document books. In each 1985 and 1987, Thomas rushed for no less than 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns, incomes All-American honors in each.

Thomas then went on to have a stellar NFL profession with the Buffalo Payments, even turning into the league’s MVP in 1991. He was then inducted into the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame in 2007 and is certainly one of solely two Oklahoma State gamers in Canton (no factors for guessing the opposite). Merely put, Thomas was among the best working backs to ever play soccer.

1. RB Barry Sanders, 1986-88

Wow, who may have presumably seen this placement coming? Barry Sanders is not only the best participant in Oklahoma State soccer historical past, however most likely the best faculty soccer participant ever. In his first two seasons, Sanders largely performed in Thomas’ shadow, though he was an All-American returner in 1987. In 1988, although, Sanders put collectively the best season faculty soccer has ever seen.

Sanders’ 1988 stats are merely unbelievable: 344 carries for two,628 yards and 37 touchdowns. His yardage and landing marks are nonetheless NCAA single-season information, and he averaged over 230 yards per sport. For sure, he gained the Heisman in a landslide that 12 months.

Sanders then had a tremendous NFL profession with the Detroit Lions, dashing for over 1,000 yards in every of his 10 seasons. Though he retired early, many nonetheless take into account Sanders to be the very best working again to ever play. Regardless of the place he went, Sanders simply went out on the sector and dominated.

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Oklahoma

North Texas Tight End Transfer Oscar Hammond Commits to Oklahoma State

Published

4 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

North Texas Tight End Transfer Oscar Hammond Commits to Oklahoma State

PORTAL TRACKER

The Cowboys have picked up a second tight end of the transfer portal.

North Texas transfer Oscar Hammond has committed to Oklahoma State, according to 247Sports’ Chris Hummer. Hammond is an Oklahoma native, playing his high school ball at Collinsville. As a 6-foot-3, 236-pound junior with the Mean Green in 2024, Hammond caught 19 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown.

The 2024 season was Hammond’s first at North Texas, as he started his college career in Edmond at UCO. Playing 19 games in two seasons with the Bronchos, he caught 58 passes for 790 yards and five touchdowns. Collinsville won the 5A state title in Hammond’s senior season.

Hammond joins Central Arkansas transfer Jordan Owens as a second tight end transfer in the Cowboys’ portal class. Part of a two-commit Friday evening, Hammond joins defensive end Kyran Duhon (UTEP) as the ninth and 10th commits the Cowboys have gotten out of the portal. Other offensive players in the class are linemen Kasen Carpenter (Tulsa) and Lavaka Taukeiaho (Weber State) and running back Kalib Hicks (Oklahoma).

Tyler Foster finished out his eligibility in 2024, but OSU also played true freshman Josh Ford quite a bit this past season. The Cowboys also signed high school tight end Jordan Vyborny to join Hammond and Owens as newcomers in the room. That position room has undergone a leadership change this offseason, as along with a host of other staff moves, OSU has reportedly brought in DJ Tialavea from Utah State to coach Cowboy tight ends.

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Oklahoma

Is Big Lots closing in Oklahoma? How nationwide closures impact 18 in-state stores

Published

12 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Is Big Lots closing in Oklahoma? How nationwide closures impact 18 in-state stores

After filing for bankruptcy protections, Big Lots is closing its doors nationwide, with the remaining stores holding “going out of business sales.”

There are only five locations in the Oklahoma City metro, but according to a company press release, all stores will begin the closing process.

“The Company is preparing to commence going out of business (GOB) sales at all remaining Big Lots store locations in the coming days to protect the value of its estate,” Big Lots said in the press release.

Here’s what this means for Oklahoma City’s locations.

Big Lots national closure could be reversed if company is bought

Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn said the closures could be reversed if a company sale is completed. Because of this, Big Lots said it would continue to serve customers in-store and online but did not specify how long the sales would last.

“While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process,” Big Lots said in the press release.

Where are OKC’s Big Lots locations?

Oklahoma City metro has 5 locations. Since this is the start of the GOB process, it cannot be confirmed when or if they will close. There are 18 locations in Oklahoma.

They are each located at:

3000 NW 63 St
7301 S Pennsylvania Ave
16000 S Broadway, Edmond
1630 Garth Brooks, Yukon
160 N Air Depot, Midwest City

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Oklahoma

Takeaways from Oklahoma Sooners depth chart for Armed Forces Bowl

Published

20 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Takeaways from Oklahoma Sooners depth chart for Armed Forces Bowl

The 2024 Oklahoma Sooners still have one final game to play before we can all officially move on to the 2025 season. OU went 6-6 overall and 2-4 in Southeastern Conference play, earning a berth in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl against the Navy Midshipmen.

After a brutal SEC schedule, Brent Venables[/autotag] and his team didn’t get a great bowl draw, as Navy went 9-3 this year. They recently defeated Army on Saturday, who had just won the American Athletic Conference title.

The Sooners have released their official depth chart for the last game of the year, which reflects the 25 players that Oklahoma has currently lost to the transfer portal. The Sooners could still see more players enter the portal between now and Dec. 28, but this is where things stand as of right now.

Some positions have seen plenty of change. Of course, OU will lose plenty more players to graduation, lack of remaining collegiate eligibility or the NFL Draft, but they’ll suit up in the crimson and cream one more time.

Here are the four biggest takeaways from OU’s depth chart for the Armed Forces Bowl.

1. No Stutsman, No Bowman

Both Danny Stutsman and Billy Bowman have played their final game in an Oklahoma jersey, and both had excellent careers in Norman.

As the duo prepares for their pro careers and the draft in April, let’s remember to salute what they did in their four years as Sooners.

Otherwise, Oklahoma’s defense will have plenty of familiar faces, and the coaching staff is hoping they will return in 2025. There are still plenty of decisions to be made there, but it looks like that unit will be mostly intact in Fort Worth.

2. Hawkins Takes Over Again

On the other hand, Oklahoma’s offensive depth chart is a work in progress, to say the least. Let’s start at quarterback. With Jackson Arnold’s transfer to Auburn, Michael Hawkins Jr. takes over at quarterback one more time in 2024.

Hawkins will make the fourth start of his true freshman season after he spelled Arnold midway through the year. Hawkins has a chance to show Sooner Nation his growth before he settles back into a reserve role behind newcomer John Mateer in 2025.

Hawkins’ decision to stick it out and stay at Oklahoma could prove fruitful for both parties, as he has a chance to be developed properly under new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.

3. Wide Receiver Woes

Oklahoma currently has six scholarship wide receivers on the roster. They could be down to four scholarship players for the Navy game if Deion Burks is unable to play, as Jayden Gibson is still out after his preseason injury.

True freshmen Zion Kearney, Zion Ragins, Ivan Carreon and K.J. Daniels all appear on the depth chart, along with walk-ons like Jacob Jordan.

It’s a position that the coaching staff is doing some work to rebuild this offseason, as they have to find guys who can be both healthy and productive.

4. Barnes Won’t Play

Oklahoma hasn’t seen any of the top four running backs on the roster (Jovantae Barnes, Xavier Robinson, Taylor Tatum, Gavin Sawchuk) enter the portal as of yet. That could change, but there’s a chance that the room will be pretty good in 2025. Those four players all bring different skill sets, but one guy emerging to be the feature back would be ideal.

For a brief minute this season, that was Barnes. He had become OU’s best offensive player, but he was injured against Maine and missed the rest of the year.

However, unlike Robinson, Tatum and Sawchuk, he doesn’t appear on the depth chart. That could be because he’s definitely out, still nursing his ankle injury.

Barnes returning in 2025 would give Venables and Arbuckle a veteran guy in the backfield who is capable of being a workhorse when called upon. That room looks a bit crowded right now, so don’t be shocked if one of the four decides to look for more carries elsewhere this winter or spring.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.