Gordon Wants to Make Announcement on His Own Time, Bowman Applying for Waiver

With the transfer portal open, and looming, OSU fans are anxious to gain some clarity on whether the Cowboys’ biggest stars will return for 2024. It looks like they’ll have to wait a little longer for those answers.

As part of OSU’s bowl prep media availability, unanimous All-American running back Ollie Gordon and starting quarterback Alan Bowman were each asked about plans for next season.

Gordon was tightlipped; Bowman? unsure.

“I just want to make my own announcement on my own time,” Gordon told PFB’s Marshall Scott.

He was then asked if he had a timeframe in mind. Gordon’s answer: “On my own time, really.”

For what it’s worth, his participation in practice and his comments point to Gordon taking part in OSU’s Texas Bowl against Texas A&M. It’s sort of strange that a sophomore needs to announce his future intentions, but that’s the college football world in 2023.

Gordon commented on his past month which has included his winning the Doak Walker Award and being named to all the All-American teams.

“It’s been good [the past month], you know, playing with my guys,” Gordon said. “It’s been really great. We’re on a great run together.

“We’ve still got one more to come out on top. You know, have a 10-game winning season and that’s all I could ask for with them.”

His quarterback shared that sentiment.

“Getting to 10 wins is huge,” said Bowman. “That’s what we are hanging our hats on and what we’re playing for.

“We want to be a double-digit win team. We want to be a bowl champion. We want to say we played in the Big 12 Championship game. It’s a huge accolade to be able to say all of those things if we win.”

With the craziness of COVID still leaving its mark on college football, plus Bowman’s long injury history, there is still a chance that he could be granted another year of eligibility. But that is decision is out of his hands.

“There’s a waiver that you have to submit to the NCAA to extend your five-year clock, to get into the technical [aspect] of it…,” Bowman said. “We’re in the process of submitting that. So, before any decisions of coming back or not coming back, we have to see if that waiver gets accepted because there’s no point to say, ‘Oh, I want to come back,’ and then it’s like, ‘Well, you can’t play.’ So we’re kind of waiting on that. We’re in the process of that.”

Bowman said it may take a couple of weeks for that process to play out and for him to hear back from NCAA. If he were able to return, it could be a boon for OSU’s quarterback depth. Gunnar Gundy entered the transfer portal. As of writing, the Cowboys are set to return Garret Rangel and freshman Zane Flores.

The Cowboys will square off against the Aggies in the Texas Bowl at 8 p.m. on Dec. 27 at NRG Stadium in Houston.