These Cowboys Made History During Oklahoma State’s Texas Bowl Win over Texas A&M

Oklahoma State won 10 games for the eighth time in Mike Gundy’s tenure, but that’s not the only important number to come out of the Texas Bowl. The Cowboys set a number of records on Wednesday night, both in bowl terms and otherwise.

Normally, I would pick out five or 10 significant numbers to highlight, but with so many to list, I’ll just highlight several players who had historic outings and summarize their accomplishments in Houston and over the season. Let’s start with the MVP.

Rashod Owens Wins Bowl MVP

I floated this as a nebulous possibility after Owens heated up in the first quarter, but I wasn’t really convinced he’d become the first wide receiver to win the bowl’s MVP. Of course, I didn’t realize he would continue on to have such a performance. His 164 receiving yards was a Texas Bowl record and a career high. He also matched career highs in catches (10) and touchdowns (2).

But Owens’ brilliance went past the numbers. Although OSU’s offense was intent on attacking the Aggies through the air, Owens was a huge part of sustaining those early drives that helped the Cowboys build their lead. And at least half of those 10 catches were SportsCenter Top 10-worthy. Some of those early ones need to show up in an OSU highlight reel, but you can’t beat a Moss’d TD.

Rashod Owens with the moss and toe tap for 6 pic.twitter.com/hUwBhvOLzz

— Xtract Sports (@XtractSports) December 28, 2023

Brennan Presley Ties an Unbelievable Record

Owens’ fellow receiver made his own history, tying a 74-year-old school record with 16 catches. By the way, how did Alex Loyd manage 16 catches in 1949 when they were still figuring out the forward pass? But those 16 grabs were an OSU postseason record, and Presley’s 152 yards were the second-most in his career in a game.

He also showed off his arm.

🚨TRICKY OKLAHOMA STATE!!!🚨
Brennan Presley ➡️ Rashod Owens for 34 yards! #TexasBowl pic.twitter.com/2BkzqjZuhC

— Video from: @TSV__1 (@TSV__1) December 28, 2023

He finished the year T-3rd nationally with 101 catches, tying Josh Stewart for fourth-most in a single season at OSU. He currently ranks fourth all-time in catches as a Cowboy (225) and seventh in career receiving yards with 2,548.

It’s not been announced whether or not Presley will utilize his final year of eligibility, but it sounds like a portal jump is not in his plans.

“I wouldn’t want to play for any other school.”

Great postgame interaction between Brennan Presley and Chad Weiberg. pic.twitter.com/7iQs4FM6WN

— Cayden McFarland (@caydenmc) December 28, 2023

Alan Bowman’s Swansong?

If this was Bowman’s final college game, it’s one he’ll be able to look back on with pride. Despite a pair of interceptions, Bowman set a number of career bests and records, as well as facilitating those two historic performances we just mentioned.

Bowman’s 402 passing yards set the Cowboy bowl record and the Texas Bowl record. And his 34 completed passes tied an OSU postseason record and were the most the Aggies allowed all year.

The veteran QB is still waiting to find out if he’ll be granted a seventh year of eligibility by the NCAA. If he doesn’t, he’ll finish his career ranked No. 20 in Big 12 history with 8,720 passing yards, between his time at Texas Tech and OSU, and No. 18 in pass completions (782). In 2023, he ranked No. 7 among Cowboys in passing yards in a single season (3,460), fourth in passing completions (304) and T-4th in passing TDs (304).

Nick Martin Just Tackles People

The Cowboys’ leading tackler added seven more at NRG stadium, pushing his season total to 140 (!!), which is the most by a Cowboy since 1984 and is the No. 6 single-season total in school history. With Kendal Daniels (105) and Trey Rucker (100), he led the first trio of Cowboys to each record triple digits since 1985.

Martin also finished his season leading the Big 12 in total tackles and solo tackles. His 83 solo grabs ranks No. 3 in the FBS. He’s also second in the Big 12 with 16 tackles for loss and sixth with six sacks.

Ollie Does is Make Plays

That’s a tired pun, but it was a late night.

Ollie Gordon, somewhat quietly for him, capped his impressive sophomore season with 118 rushing yards and a TD against the Aggies. That pushed his FBS-leading rushing total to 1,732. He also leads the nation with 2,062 yards from scrimmage and 324 plays from scrimmage. His 21 rushing scores ranks second in the nation. It was the ninth time that he’s rushed for at least 100 yards this season.

Gordon is staying put for his junior season, as is his starting offensive line, so expect him to up the ante in 2024. Especially since he’ll be getting the ball in Week 1.

Mike Gundy and OSU Just Keep Rolling

Although there will be an entire offseason to try to contextualize what was a pretty wacky 2023, daydream about what could have been and argue over spring depth charts, now is a good time to appreciate the consistency that Gundy and staff achieved with a team that, at times, looked like its antithesis.

Gundy is 12-6 in bowl games and hasn’t missed one since his first season, and is 7-3 in the last decade in the postseason. The Cowboys have reached double-digit wins eight times in his tenure and have not had a losing season since his first. That 10th win obviously provided a carrot, but Gundy gets his teams up for these bowl games. OSU is 25-7 after a loss over its past 32 tries.