It seems odd that Oklahoma State and Arkansas, with their campuses roughly 180 miles apart, haven't played each other since the Jimmy Carter administration.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said it makes sense for the schools to finally renew the series. His 16th-ranked Cowboys host the Razorbacks on Saturday as the programs meet for the first time since 1980.
“This is a good matchup because it’s two hours and 45 minutes away," he said. "You have a lot of crossover with people. There’s a lot of Arkansas people that can live up here. There’s a lot of Oklahoma people that have migrated over there with Walmart and all that stuff, so I think it is good.”
Turns out, it'll be much more than a matchup of geographic convenience. Oklahoma State believes reaching the College Football Playoff is a legitimate possibility. Beating Arkansas, a member of the Southeastern Conference, could help the Cowboys reach that goal.
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman is feeling the heat after a rough 2023, but a road win over a ranked opponent would calm Razorback fans a bit.
Arkansas won its opener 70-0 over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Taylen Green, a transfer from Boise State passed for two touchdowns and ran for two in the opener.
Gundy said looking at Arkansas’ record from last season is misleading. He noted that the Razorbacks were competitive in most of their games, including several against highly ranked opponents. They finished 4-8 but lost five one-score games.
"I’ve scanned through them over the summer, and they had four or five games last year that they could’ve won,” Gundy said. “I don’t know what their record was last year, but it looked to me they could’ve won eight games pretty easy in obviously a very difficult conference.”
Oklahoma State is coming off a 44-20 win over two-time defending FCS champion South Dakota State. The Cowboys feature Ollie Gordon II, the preseason All-American running back who scored three touchdowns in the opener.
Arkansas counters with Ja'Quinden Jackson, a transfer from Utah who ran for 101 yards and two scores against UAPB.
Oklahoma State's experienced offensive line will face one of its toughest challenges of the season in trying to block Landon Jackson, Arkansas' 6-foot-7, 280-pound defensive end.
“I mean, he’s a projected first round pick, or whatever that is,” Oklahoma State left tackle Dalton Cooper said. "We’ve just got to treat him like we do every week. Just attack the day. Don’t get too far ahead in our minds, and just stay humble and grounded with what we do.”
Oklahoma State faced a relatively small defensive line in South Dakota State last week.
Not this week. Arkansas' top four defensive tackles are massive: Cam Ball (6-5, 324), Kelvie Rose (6-3, 314), Eric Gregory (6-4, 320) and Ian Geffrard (6-5, 388).
“When you’re playing a team in the SEC, you’re going to play girth," Gundy said. “You’re going to run into guys that have a lot of guys with a lot of size and are physical in the box.”
Oklahoma State’s fans are loud and very close to the field, something Pittman has tried to prepare his team for.
“Very, very close — as in, they can stand up and look right on top of you,” Pittman said. “We talked to our players and coaching staff about that as well because we can’t let their fans be a distraction to us when we’re trying to learn on the sideline or trying to talk about the next series or whatever it may be.”
Former Oklahoma State defensive end Leslie O’Neal will be honored at halftime and his name will be unveiled on the stadium’s Ring of Honor.
O’Neal set a school record that still stands with 16 sacks in 1984, when he was named the Big Eight’s Defensive Player of the Year. He earned All-Big Eight honors in each of his last three seasons and was a first-team AP All-American in 1984 and 1985. He is the school’s career leader with 34 sacks.
He will join Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Bob Fenimore and Terry Miller on the Ring of Honor.
“As far as like former players that were dominant here, (O’Neal) was as dominant defensively as Barry and Thurman were offensively,” Gundy said.
Oklahoma State's Alan Bowman, a seventh-year player, has continued to improve in Oklahoma State's system. The 24-year-old passed for 265 yards and three touchdown against South Dakota State.
“I think he probably knows their offense as good as anybody does, as good as the head coach does,” Pittman said. "So, he’s a really good player, and what they do with him is right down his wheelhouse. Really playing well, takes care of the football.”
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