‘That Kid Has Been Tremendous’: Cincinnati Coach Scott Satterfield Raves about Ollie Gordon

If Ollie Gordon was still under the radar after his 168 rushing yards and 116 receiving yards against Kansas two weeks back, he isn’t anymore — just ask the next coach that has to get prepared for him.

Oklahoma State hosts Big 12 newcomer Cincinnati at 7 p.m. Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium. When Bearcat coach Scott Satterfield met with the media this week he couldn’t stop gushing about OSU’s sophomore running back after Gordon’s 282 yards and four touchdowns against West Virginia.

“Early in the year, they were playing three quarterbacks, and now they’ve decided on the one quarterback — and they decided to hand the ball to 0,” Satterfield said. “That kid has been tremendous the last three games. Ollie Gordon is his name. Last week rushed for 282 yards and four touchdowns — 145 of those yards came in the fourth quarter when the game was still about a tie ballgame. He had three touchdowns and 145 yards. They’re just leaning on him, giving him the ball and he’s producing.”

Listed at 6-foot-1, 211 pounds, Gordon proposes a unique challenge for teams trying to prepare for him in that he has speed to go with his size. And whereas most people assume listed heights and weights on rosters are boosted a little, people are starting to wonder if Gordon is actually bigger than listed.

When asked who would play the Gordon role at practice this week, Satterfield said it would probably have to be a few guys.

“It’ll probably be several people because he’s very unique,” Satterfield said. “I mentioned his size, but also his speed. There will probably be two or three different guys that we put down there. Some speed guys — Manny Covey will be one that can show you some juice that when he breaks outside, he can take it the distance with it.”

Covey is a 5-foot-11, 190-pound freshman. The Bearcats also have a few bruisers in their running back room in a guy like 6-0, 225-pound Victor Dawson. Ethan Wright is listed about as close to Gordon as one can be at 6-1, 212 pounds. Wright has jumped between running back and safety in his time with the Bearcats. In his career, Wright, a senior, has rushed for 215 yards and three touchdowns — numbers Gordon nearly matched in the fourth quarter alone Saturday.

Needless to say, it’s tough to find a guy like Gordon to give you a look, because with his size in speed, it’s as if Gordon was made in some football-focused laboratory.

In the fourth quarter of OSU’s win against the Mountaineers, Gordon was legally tackled five times. He had 149 yards and three touchdowns in that quarter.

Not that teams weren’t already keying on Gordon, but he’ll enter this homecoming game against Cincinnati as the back-to-back Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, the back-to-back Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week and the reigning Walter Camp National Player of the Week.

The Bearcats bring the second-best rushing defense in the Big 12 to Stillwater for what ought to be an interesting (and physical) game of chess.

“Here’s the unique thing about this back — he’s a big back, he’s 6-1, 211 [pounds],” Satterfield said. “He looks bigger on film. But he’s got some speed. This guy, when he breaks out and gets to the second level, you see DBs just falling to the ground and him hitting the sideline and going to the house. He’s got eight rushing touchdowns.

“He is a talented running back that when he hits the second level, he can take it the distance, so you have to be able to try to hem him up and not let him get loose out in the secondary because the teams he’s played in the last few weeks, they haven’t tackled him.”