Notebook: Presley Praises SDSU, What Makes Martin So Good and Oates Talks Gordon

STILLWATER — The Cowboys started off 2024 much more convincingly than 2023.

Oklahoma State opened its season with a 44-20 win against South Dakota State on Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium. Up next is an SEC foe in Arkansas, as the Razorbacks and Cowboys play at 11 a.m. Saturday in Stillwater. OSU players met with the media after their Monday practice. Here are three topics discussed.

1. Presley Gives High Praise to South Dakota State

Brennan Presley has played a lot of college football games.

He’s played against Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Miami and Notre Dame, but he said that Saturday’s game against the Jackrabbits was “one of the most physical games” he’s taken part in. Coming from Presley, that’s high praise for any team, even more so for an FCS team.

Presley finished the day with seven catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. He had a four-yard rush and returned a punt and a kick with 23 return yards.

“Just the way they play, you can tell why they’ve won so much,” Presley said. “They all swarm to the ball, attacking the ball. Everybody on the team were great tacklers – their hustle, pursuit and effort and stuff. Just how efficient they were. Like in spots, smart, really sound – that’s what Gundy said before the game it was gonna be, one of those games. …

“I’m glad we played a clean game because if we didn’t, if we have a couple turnovers, a lot of penalties and stuff like that, the game easily could’ve gone a different way. I think it says a lot about them, but I also think it says a lot about us in the way we were able to handle that.”

2. From a Linebacker, What Makes Nick Martin So Good

Nick Martin is good at football — that much is certain.

Martin led the Big 12 with 140 tackles last season (the most any Cowboy has had since the 1980s). In OSU’s season opener, Martin made 10 tackles and had a big sack in the fourth quarter. It’s crystal clear to anyone with even a little bit of football knowledge that Martin is a good player, but what about from a linebacker’s perspective? Jeff Roberson made his first career start Saturday alongside Martin. Here is what he said makes his position-mate so good.

“Oh my gosh, he runs sideline to sideline,” Roberson said. “The dude is fast. He might run a 4.4 (40-yard dash). Dude’s incredibly fast, and he’s very physical, smart, intelligent, knows what he’s doing. All around, just a good leader and a good guy.”

As good as Martin is, he proved mortal in one instance Saturday, as SDSU quarterback Mark Gronowski essentially threw Martin a pass in the fourth quarter. The ball hit Martin dead center, but almost looking surprised by how direct the ball went to him, Martin dropped it. Two plays later, Martin clobbered Gronowski in the back field on a fourth down, making up for it.

“We definitely did (give Martin a hard time) because it was right in his hands,” Roberson said. “He should’ve caught it. He got the sack next play, and he was like, ‘Alright, I feel better. I feel better.'”

3. Oates on Watching Gordon’s Celebrity Take Off

This offseason, Ollie Gordon was at a ton of OSU sporting events. That’s what grabbed the headlines, but oftentimes if you looked a tiny bit harder, you would see Iman Oates right there with him.

The two are roommates. Oates is in his second season with the program after transferring from NEO. A 6-foot-3, 305-pound defensive lineman, Oates redshirted last season, but he seems to be on track to make an impact for the Cowboys in 2024. He played 42 defensive snaps Saturday, recording three tackles.

Thinking back to his busy offseason with Gordon, Oates said some of his favorite moments included going to OSU basketball games to watch Eric Dailey Jr., who Oates and Gordon grew close to (Dailey has since transferred to UCLA). Oates also said the Cowgirl tennis matches he went to were a lot of fun to watch, saying, “They get down. It’s serious business over there.”

He also got to watch Gordon’s local celebrity take off being with him in public so much.

“You see it first hand, and like, you’re happy for him,” Oates said. “Seeing him just embracing everything and being the person that he is, the true people person he is, it helps the world see what I see on a daily basis. He’s a good guy.

“Him bringing me along, us hanging around all the time, introducing me to people and showing me what that’s like before my time may come, it was very fun, very fun being out there with him at those sporting events.”