Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II earned his third-consecutive Big 12 football offensive weekly award. He was joined by teammate Leon Johnson III (co-newcomer), West Virginia’s Beanie Bishop Jr. (defensive and co-newcomer) and Texas’ Xavier Worthy (special teams) as week nine honorees.
Gordon is the first player to collect three consecutive awards since K-State’s Morgan Burns earned four straight special teams accolades from Nov. 16-Dec. 7, 2013. Worthy picked up his second career recognition.
Facing the No. 18 rushing defense in the nation, Gordon rushed for 271 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries (10.8 yards per carry) while adding four catches for 21 yards to account for 292 all-purpose yards in Oklahoma State's 45-13 win over Cincinnati. He is just the second player in program history with back-to-back games of 250+ rushing yards, joining Barry Sanders in 1988. The sophomore also joins Boston College's Andre Williams (2013) as the only two FBS players over the last 20 seasons with 250 scrimmage yards in three straight games. Gordon's rushing total marked the most for an FBS player last week and the fourth-most for an FBS player in a game this season. He has the No. 1 and No. 4 rushing games this year, as well as three of the top five scrimmage yard games this year. His past two games mark the most rushing yards for an OSU player in a two-game span (553) since Barry Sanders posted 625 yards against Iowa and Texas Tech in 1988. The performance also made him the only Power Five player with multiple 200+ yard games on the ground this season. Gordon has reached more than 1,000 rushing yards for the season in just eight games, marking the quickest a Cowboy has surpassed the mark since Chuba Hubbard needed just six games in 2019. He has five straight games with more than 100 rushing yards. Gordon and Hubbard are the only Cowboys since 2010 with five straight games of 100+ rushing yards. He has posted 11 total touchdowns in the past four games, including multiple scores in three straight games. Gordon is the FBS leader in rushing yards (1,087) and rushing yards per game (135.9). He also leads the nation in carries of 20 yards (15), 30 yards (12) and 40 yards (6). He is among the top 10 FBS players in rushing yards per carry (No. 2 - 7.71), all-purpose yards per game (No. 3 - 161.0), rushing touchdowns (No. 9 - 10) and total touchdowns (No. 10 - 11).
Bishop recorded two interceptions in WVU’s 41-28 win at UCF to improve his total to four on the season. The returns went for 31 and 20 yards. He has more interceptions this year than the team had all of last season. Bishop became the first Mountaineer since 2021 to record at least two picks in a game (Josh Chandler-Semedo at Kansas). He also added four tackles and a pass breakup. The graduate student leads the league in passes defended (16) and pass breakups (12) and is tied for second in interceptions. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human resource development from Minnesota last May.
Worthy raced 74 yards for the first punt return touchdown of his career in Texas’ 35-6 win over BYU. The TD followed the Cougars’ first possession and was the opening score of the game. It was the first punt return touchdown by the Longhorns since 2018 and the 10th-longest punt return in program history. Worthy also caught four passes during the game to extend his streak of games with a reception to 33-consecutive, the fifth-longest streak in program history. The junior is a physical culture and sports major.
Johnson made his first FBS start on Saturday after spending the last four years at George Fox in NCAA Division III where he earned a degree in mathematics. He hauled in his first FBS reception with three minutes remaining in the first quarter and finished the game with five catches for 149 yards, including a 67-yard gain in the second quarter. Johnson was the first player to surpass 100 receiving yards in his first OSU start since Tay Martin did so against Missouri State on September 4, 2021. Johnson's receiving total marked the third-most in a Big 12 game this season.
