Mike Gundy Expects Oklahoma State LB Collin Oliver to Miss Rest of Season with Injury

It sounds like Oklahoma State will have to go through most of its season without one of its best defensive players.

OSU coach Mike Gundy, who rarely talks about injuries, announced after the Cowboys’ game Saturday that he expects LB/EDGE Collin Oliver to miss the rest of the season because of an injury he suffered during OSU’s 39-31 double-overtime win against Arkansas.

“I think that he’s done for the year,” Gundy said. “I’m not sure. I haven’t gotten an update other than the game when they said that he wasn’t coming back and they thought that he might have had maybe a fracture or a crack or something, but I’m not for sure.”

Oliver pressured Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green into a poor decision that resulted in a 73-yard pick-six for Kale Smith in the second quarter for the Cowboys’ first points of the game. Oliver was injured during that play and never returned. He was later seen wearing street clothes on the sideline with crutches and a boot on his right foot. ESPN reported on the broadcast that he had X-rays done on his “lower right leg.”

A senior, Oliver has been a staple on OSU’s defense since his freshman year, when he famously crawled to sack Caleb Williams and seal Bedlam in 2021. He was 10.5 sacks away from Leslie O’Neal’s career sacks record at OSU with 23.5 so far and presumably at least 10 more games ahead of him without the injury. O’Neal became the first defensive player to be inducted into the Cowboy Ring of Honor at halftime on Saturday.

“Oh yeah — I’m not gonna lie, I was aware of (the record),” Oliver said last week. “Leslie O’Neal, he’s the GOAT. He was the best defensive end here. His sack record has held for a long time. It’s definitely been on my mind — not too much — but a sack a game will get me there. But at the end of the day, all I wanna do is win. All I want to do is win.”