‘We Could Be Something Special’: Isaia Glass on Joining Oklahoma State’s Experienced Offensive Line Room

STILLWATER — In terms of playing time, it was a bit of a risk for Isaia Glass to reemerge from the transfer portal at Oklahoma State.

Glass started all 12 of Arizona State’s games in 2022 and started three more in 2023 before sitting the rest of the season with injury. Then Glass, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound redshirt junior from Arizona, took the portal out of Tempe to Stillwater. But the offensive line room Glass joined featured five sixth-year seniors who started at least 10 games for the Cowboys last season. Despite all of those guys being healthy to start the year, though, Glass has carved out a role in his first season with the program, rotating at left tackle with Dalton Cooper. Glass even earned a start in OSU’s double-overtime win against Arkansas last week.

“I think just being confident in myself, and like I said, just wanting to be a part of this team,” Glass said. “Seeing how close they were last year, me just being confident in myself and being confident in this team that I wanted to join that we could be something special. I just love the way the guys work.

“Talking to the guys now that I’m involved in it, everything on the outside of how it is, it’s that plus more. This is real hard work here. There’s no faking it. I think it’s showing up. It’s just nice that all the hard work you do in the offseason is paying out in wins, which is what you do it for.”

Cooper has played 90 snaps to Glass’ 63 through two games, according to PFF. The outlet graded Cooper as the best pass-blocker the Cowboys have had in those games with a score of 90.5. Glass, though, has had the edge in run blocking, per PFF, with a 65.7 grade to Cooper’s 54.6.

It’s unusual to rotate on the O-line, especially at the heralded position of left tackle, but that oddity doesn’t appear to be jarring to either guy.

“We’re putting the best people out there at all times,” said Cooper after the South Dakota State game. “I felt great. Getting those two drives off, it kind of felt I was like, ‘Wow, I haven’t even been in yet.’ It’s great. He went out there, was no change in the O-line. We scored twice with him out there. We scored twice with me out there. We just kept the ball going. It was great. I probably got the most rest I’ve ever gotten in any game ever, so that was pretty nice, I’ll say that.”

“You’re definitely fresh when you go in, and you know that there is no drop off at all,” Glass said. “Dalton’s a hooper. Dalton’s a baller. When you go in, you know there’s no drop off. He’s a really good player, so we can talk about what we saw. Every time we come off the field, we’re talking about moves that the other D-lineman did, different stunts we did. We have a really good connection. I feel like we’re helping each other get better every day.”

This experience could also set up the Cowboys moving forward. Cooper will exhaust his eligibility after this season, while Glass will still have another year left. OSU’s other starting offensive linemen (Jake Springfield, Preston Wilson, Joe Michalski and Cole Birmingham) are also in their last season of eligibility, so the experience Glass gains this season could ease such a harsh transition in 2025. OSU also hasn’t played Jason Brooks Jr. to this point this season, setting up a potential redshirt for a guard who started seven games for the Cowboys in 2023.

Still, in this college football world of everything happening instantly, it’s refreshing to see that Glass was willing to come into a crowded room and get to work.

“I think the biggest thing is the culture,” Glass said. “The culture here is real. It’s really hard here. The offseason is really hard. The workouts are really hard. Practice is really hard. Everything here is very militant, but I think it shows up in the wins. It shows up over the past 20 years Gundy has been here. That’s something I didn’t get a lot at my old school, but I wanted to be a part of that culture that means what they say. There’s no shortcuts. Coming here, there’s no canceling meetings. There’s no nothing. We do the hard work, and that’s something I want to be a part of.”