Joel Klatt surprised by Oklahoma State’s inability to run the ball

Joel Klatt is struggling to make sense of what happened to the Oklahoma State rushing attack this season. A year after leading the country in rushing yards, running back Ollie Gordon has not looked like the same.

Increased attention on defense was to be expected and Gordon has certainly seen it. Many teams have stacked the box against the Cowboys this season, limiting the opportunities the running back has for open space.

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Still, Gordon is averaging nearly half as many yards per game as he did in 2023. Even with defenses game planning more to stop the run this season, it’s still surprising especially considering OSU returned seven offensive linemen with starting experience. It’s left Klatt and many others around the country wondering one thing.

“What happened here?” the FOX Sports analyst said on his podcast. “This was not what we expected. Ollie Gordon is only averaging 67 rush yards per game a year after winning the Doak Walker. He was 124 yards per game last year when he won that award. They are 114th in the country in rushing this season. Only averaging 3.5 yards per carry, which is 105th in the country. Remember, they have all five starting linemen back. I don’t understand.”

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Oklahoma State entered the season with expectations of making the Big 12 Championship after finishing runner up a year ago. However, amid the struggles offensively, the Cowboys are off to an 0-2 start in conference play.

It hasn’t just been the running game that has gotten off to a poor start. Quarterback Alan Bowman has thrown four interceptions across those two losses. However, given Gordon’s star power a year ago, it’s the rushing attack that stands out.

“This should have been better,” Klatt continued. “This was a giant surprise for me. I thought that Oklahoma State would not only compete for the Big 12 title, but that Gordon would have some Heisman run to this point in the season and it just hasn’t materialized.

“Now, Oklahoma State has started slow before and then they’ve finished a lot better. We’ve seen that in subsequent years. But boy, to be honest, that is one of the more shocking things that we’ve seen so far in college football this year.”

Gordon and OSU will look to get things going on the ground when they face West Virginia on Saturday in Stillwater.