Oklahoma State 2019 Grades: Running Back

After the glimpses of Chuba Hubbard last season, anyone with vision could see he was going to be good, but I’m not sure many expected him to hit 2,000 yards in his first full season as a featured back.

Hubbard was the best back in the country despite not being rewarded as such at season’s end, and he spurred one of the best rushing seasons Oklahoma State has seen in a while. Hubbard and his position group are next in our season grade series.

140-Character Summary: Hubbard was a bright spot throughout the year for the Pokes. He started hot against Oregon State, and as some waited for him to eventually slow down, he didn’t.

Best Performance: Kansas State — Hubbard ran for 296 (!!!) yards against the Wildcats and did so on only 25 carries. That’s 11.84 yards per carry against a Big 12 team.

Worst Performance: I guess against McNeese? Hubbard had only eight carries for 44 yards and fumbled once. Jahmyl Jeter’s 34 yards were the second most among the five OSU running backs who got touches. Regardless of it not being an outstanding game for the position group, the Cowboys still won 56-14.

Best Play: There aren’t many wrong answers here, but I’m going to go with this:

Or maybe this:

Stat that matters: 2,094 — It’s the second-most rushing yards any Cowboy has had in a season and the 18th-best rushing performance in NCAA history. It’s a stat that not only matters in OSU’s lore but one that will matter in the coming years when the next running back somewhere hits 2K.

Bullet stickers (out of 10):  11 — It’s gotta be, right? We expected Hubbard to be good, but not second-best rushing season in program history good. OSU ran for 2,985 yards this year, the most since 2008, and sure, not all of that was running backs but it’s still a heckuva year.

The Future: Who knows? Is Hubbard going to return? Gundy said after the bowl game that he can see it, but I’m still in the skeptic camp of that coming to fruition. If he stays, this group is solid again next season. If he doesn’t, things will be interesting. LD Brown got better as the season went on, but it’s still up in the air of what an OSU offense would look like with him as the featured back.

In that scenario, Dezmon Jackson and Deondrick Glass would be called upon to provide depth, and those two are unproven at this level.