‘Inexpensive’ Big 12 Newcomer of the Week Obi Ezeigbo Has Already Stepped Up for Oklahoma State in Collin Oliver’s Absence

As if his office was on Wall Street instead of Hall of Fame Avenue, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy got Obi Ezeigbo while his stock was still low.

Ezeigbo, a senior transfer from Division-II Gannon, came up big for the Cowboys on Saturday in their 39-31 double-overtime win against Arkansas at Boone Pickens Stadium. He was basically forced to step up, though, after standout linebacker Collin Oliver, listed above Ezeigbo on the depth chart, was injured midway through the second quarter and never returned.

With the leader of OSU’s defense sidelined, Ezeigbo was part of the unit’s turnaround in the second half. He recorded nine tackles, two sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry in only his second Division-I game. And all of his tackles came after Oliver’s injury.

Ezeigbo was impressive enough to be named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday.

“He’s not in that category (as Oliver), from experience and a lot of things,” Gundy said. “But what he did was really compete. He got put to the test with an extended number of plays that he really hadn’t had at this level, so it is different for him. I was proud of him and shared that with the staff that he actually played better than I thought he would, which can ultimately be the case a lot of time. We don’t really know how good a young man can play until he gets in there.

“He’s got a lot of work ahead of him, but I’m certainly glad we have him and he played better than what I thought he would on such a short notice.”

Gundy reaffirmed what he announced postgame about Oliver’s injury, in that he will likely miss significant time. He said Saturday he expects Oliver to miss the rest of the season, but on Monday, Gundy said there won’t be another update on Oliver’s injury for “at least a month or so.”

Gundy also added that linebacker Justin Wright, who missed all of last season with an injury, “might miss a considerable number of games” because of another injury. Wright hasn’t suited up for a game yet this season.

“It’s gonna be awhile,” Gundy said about Oliver’s injury. “Very unfortunate.”

This past offseason, Ezeigbo transferred from Gannon, where defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo came from two years ago. Ezeigbo didn’t crack the starting lineup until last season as a senior, meaning he never started under Nardo. He then earned first team All-PSAC West honors after recording 54 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and leading the team with 7.5 sacks last season on the defensive line. After spending his entire time at Gannon on the D-line, Ezeigbo has transitioned to linebacker, playing a similar hybrid LB/EDGE role that Oliver has adopted.

“What stood out — of course knowing (Nardo), knowing how he coaches — but the main thing going in the portal, I was hearing a lot of what I wanted to hear, as a recruit you hear what you want to hear, but I wanted to hear what I needed to hear — the truth, the honesty,” Ezeigbo told PFB at OSU’s media day. “I knew I could trust Nardo. He was going to keep it real with me. I already know what he’s about. He’s a good dude. He’s really family oriented. I knew his playbook, or I had a history playing with it. All those things change, so I still had like the main gist of it. I took all that into consideration when I chose here.”

During his weekly news conference Monday, Gundy was asked about recruiting Ezeigbo to OSU. Obviously there was a previous connection there, but what else was worth offering Ezeigbo an opportunity at the Division-I level?

“Do you want me to go back into coach talk or do you want me to tell you the truth,” Gundy responded.

The truth, obviously.

“He was very inexpensive,” Gundy said candidly. “The number of players that we go after that were ready to play at this level, we can’t afford. So he was a good buy and a really quality young man that had had success and has physical characteristics that we could work with (strength and conditioning coach) Rob Glass and develop him. And so that’s why he ended up here, in my opinion. So we saw some things that we felt like that we could develop him into a good player at this level, and it wasn’t gonna cost us the money that we didn’t have.”

Now, the Cowboys will be getting a lot of bang for their buck after a value pick has emerged as a starter after a significant injury.