Ollie Gordon Named Semifinalist for Doak Walker Award

Ollie Gordon’s list of accomplishments continues to grow in his breakout season.

On Tuesday, Gordon was named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award. The award is given to the nation’s best running back, and Gordon has made a strong case through 11 games.

Gordon’s latest addition to his resume came in Oklahoma State’s 43-30 win at Houston. Gordon finished that game with 164 yards and three touchdowns for his seventh game of at least 100 yards rushing this season.

With the performance against the Cougars, Gordon is tied with North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton as the nation’s leading rusher. Both have 1,414 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns but Gordon has needed 14 fewer carries to reach that mark.

Gordon and Hampton are two of the 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award. The list features four Big 12 players, including R.J. Harvey, who had a stellar performance against OSU a couple of weeks ago.

Gordon’s season began with an unimpressive start, but he has turned it around. Gordon’s first three games saw him carry the ball only 19 times for 109 yards.

Gordon broke that yardage mark in the following six games, failing to get more than 100 yards only once in conference play. His play also sparked OSU’s five-game winning streak to help reach bowl eligibility, which seemed like a long shot through four games.

The Cowboys’ five-game winning streak included three games with at least 200 scrimmage yards from Gordon. The first was the best receiving game of his career, with more than 100 yards rushing and receiving against Kansas.

He followed that up with his most impressive performance this season at West Virginia. Gordon rushed for 282 yards and four touchdowns and did most of his damage, including three touchdowns, in the fourth quarter.

His third game surpassing 200 yards came against Cincinnati on homecoming, where he used a 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to reach 271 yards in OSU’s blowout win. Beyond those games, he helped OSU upset Kansas State and Oklahoma.

However, his single bad conference game against UCF, when he finished with only 25 yards, could end up costing OSU a spot in the Big 12 Championship if things do not fall in OSU’s favor this weekend. But if Gordon can get another good performance against BYU and get a chance to play Texas in Arlington, he could be the first OSU player to win the award since its debut in 1990.

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