Nickolas Martin details streak of injuries, desire to play through pain

Oklahoma State Cowboys linebacker Nickolas Martin has battled through injuries all season long, and the Big 12 title game was no different.

While Martin’s team wasn’t able to pull out a victory, he still showed up and showed out, despite an injury to his cheek that sounded more than painful. The linebacker led his team’s defense with 13 tackles and an interception against the Longhorns.

Afterwards, Martin spoke to the injury he suffered, and why he wasn’t going to let it take him out of the Big 12 title game.

“This has happened like five times this year. I don’t know how, but I keep getting hit in my cheekbone and it swells up. It’s weird,” Martin said, following the Big 12 title game. “It’s war, you know what I’m saying? If I got to do this and go through all the pain inflicted for my guys, I’d do it a million times.”

That’s a warrior. It’s tough not to get fired up when you hear about what Martin has had to fight through for Oklahoma State, and it’s easy to see why the Cowboys gravitate towards him on defense.

The journey isn’t over for Nickolas Martin and company, as the Texas Bowl features a matchup between two former Big 12 foes in Oklahoma State taking on Texas A&M. It marks the second time that the two teams will meet since 2019, as they also faced each other in the Texas Bowl that season. 

Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M odds: Texas Bowl point spread released

The Aggies got the best of the Cowboys in a 24-21 victory that season, and Vegas is predicting a similar story to play out in this year’s contest. Texas A&M opens as a 4.5-point favorite in the matchup according to FanDuel, which also has the over/under set at 53.5.

Oklahoma State is coming off of a loss to Texas in the Big 12 title game, but still has a chance to reach 10 wins for the eighth time under Mike Gundy. This also marks the 18th straight season that the Cowboys have reached a bowl game under Gundy’s direction. 

The matchup between Oklahoma State’s rushing attack and Texas A&M’s defensive front is the one to keep an eye on here. Cowboys running back Ollie Gordon, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, leads the country with 1,614 yards and 20 touchdowns. He’ll be looking to bounce back after the Longhorns bottled him up for just 34 yards on Saturday. 

OSU began the year 2-2 with one of those losses coming against South Alabama, but turned it around to win seven of its final eight games to close the season. Now the Cowboys will hope to add a bowl victory to that as they look to get their revenge against the Aggies for the last Texas Bowl loss.

On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this article.