Three Things Oklahoma State Football Fans Should Be Thankful For

The 2024 college football season will not be one that is remembered fondly in Stillwater, America, but Cowboy fans still have plenty to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving.

Oklahoma State closes its season on Black Friday at 11 a.m. (Central) in Boulder against Colorado, but before that season finale kicks off, here are three things OSU football fans should be thankful for this holiday season.

1. Brennan Presley

What more could be said that hasn’t been said already?

Brennan Presley went from an undersized, unheralded recruit to the program’s all-time leader in receptions. He’s put himself in the same breath as all-time greats like Justin Blackmon, James Washington, Dez Bryant and Tylan Wallace. And all the while, he’s done it being a fan favorite for how hard he plays, a team favorite evident by him being voted a yearlong captain last season and a media favorite by how he handles his interviews.

There might never be another Brennan Presley, and OSU fans should be thankful they were able to watch him play for the past five years.

2. The Running Back Position

OSU has been a good running back school, going back to Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas and even Terry Miller before them, but there has been a bit of a running back renaissance happening in Stillwater for the past 10 or so years, too.

For starters, Ollie Gordon is on campus. The reigning Doak Walker winner hasn’t had the greatest of seasons (nor have the Pokes on the whole), but last Saturday provided a reminder of just how good he is when he went off for 156 yards and three touchdowns against Texas Tech. That outing included a 68-yard touchdown run where he casually skipped over a Red Raider defender while speeding in some school zones.

🚨Top-End Speed: Week 13’s Fastest College Football Plays Revealed 🔥 #ReelSpeed #CFB@CowboyFB, RB, Ollie Gordon II

Some guys just make it look easy 💥 20.8 MPH@Ollie_Gordon2 #DAT #GoPokes #PokesFB pic.twitter.com/v6mfge476F

— Reel Analytics (@RAanalytics) November 26, 2024

Need more evidence of the RB renaissance? Just sit down on a Sunday and turn on the NFL. There are three former Cowboys lighting up the league in Chuba Hubbard, Justice Hill and Jaylen Warren.

Fresh off signing a contract extension, Hubbard is the league’s fifth-leading rusher with 876 yards. He has six runs of 20 or more yards and has ran for seven touchdowns.

Hill was the lightning to Chris Carson’s thunder in Stillwater. Now he’s the lightning to Derrick Henry’s thunder in Baltimore. Hill has 185 rushing yards and a touchdown this season and has also caught 33 passes (already a career-high for Hill in an NFL season) for 307 yards and two more scores. He iced Baltimore’s Monday Night Football win earlier this week.

51-YARD TOUCHDOWN FOR @jhill21_!!!!!

Tune in on ESPN!!! pic.twitter.com/ZtjFDLTr24

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 26, 2024

Warren just keeps making plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sharing a backfield with Najee Harris, Warren has ran for 303 yards and a touchdown this season and has 142 receiving yards while battling injuries.

And the future of the position in Stillwater looks bright. Who knows if Rodney Fields Jr. turns out to be on the same level of those four other guys, but he’s been a bright spot as a true freshman in this bummer of the season with 86 yards and a touchdown.

3. A Fun, Stress-Free Saturday on the Couch

College football has been chaos this year, and with the Pokes closing out their season on Friday, that means Cowboy fans can sit back and watch as the rest of the Big 12 fights to the death, Texas and Texas A&M renew a heated rivalry and pundits everywhere holler about who is in and who is out.

Would this all be more fun if the Cowboys were involved? Sure. But after such a stressful year, it should be nice on Saturday to watch a lot of fun college football without having to think about OSU’s defense, what Mike Gundy said on a Zoom call or anything else that’s gone awry this season.