This preview is the seventh of a 12-part series breaking down the upcoming KU football schedule.
While Oklahoma and Oklahoma State fans alike will cherish what’s seemingly the final football edition of the Bedlam series this fall, Kansas will have the Cowboys circled on their calendar for another reason.
It was a Week 9 romp over then-No. 18 Oklahoma State that clinched KU’s eventual trip to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, the Jayhawks’ first bowl appearance in over a decade. That storyline, which has echoed throughout Lawrence since the 2022 season ended, will inevitably be brought up again when KU travels to Stillwater on Oct. 14.
The Cowboys, who lost five of their last six games in 2022, including a 24-17 loss to Wisconsin in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix, will be looking to regain the confidence of those discouraged by a 7-6 (4-5 Big 12 Conference) finish. That burden falls on longtime head coach Mike Gundy, who last posted a losing season during his first year with the team in 2005. His team was picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 preseason media poll, while earning a lone first-place vote.
After losing four-year starter Spencer Sanders, who transferred away from the Cowboys to join up with Ole Miss back in January, Oklahoma State has a fresh face in its QB room. Alan Bowman, a former Michigan and Texas Tech slinger, has arrived at Gundy’s doorstep.
Bowman played in just three games for the Wolverines during his senior season in Ann Arbor, recording six completions for 60 total yards and a touchdown. Challenging Bowman will be returning sophomore Garret Rangel, who showed up four times for the Cowboys in 2022, getting the start for the loss at KU last November.
With a veteran offensive line that includes fifth-year seniors Jake Springfield, Taylor Miterko, Dalton Cooper and Cole Birmingham, Oklahoma State’s run game will have the right kind of protection this fall. Returning sophomore Ollie Gordon II will likely see the majority of those touches after becoming the third-leading rusher (308 yards) as a true freshman.
The team’s leading receiver, senior Brennan Presley, is also set to return to the Oklahoma State offense after providing 1,203 all-purpose yards in 2022 and was named to the preseason all-conference team. Additionally, Gundy sought out transfer receivers De’Zhaun Stribling (Washington State) and Arland Bruce IV (Iowa) this offseason.
The defensive picture of Oklahoma State is a tad less predictable.
New defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo, whose past stops include Gannon, Youngstown State and Emporia State, will be introducing a 3-3-5 system.
Newly assigned linebacker Collin Oliver, previously listed as a defensive end, will be able to get more creative this year after totaling 16.5 sacks and 23 tackles for a loss since first stepping into the Cowboys program.
Additionally, Nardo will be looking to All-American safety Kendal Daniels to come up with the big play, after he carried home All-Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors, following in the footsteps of Oliver from 2021. Both players were also named preseason all-conference this year along with Presley.
Oklahoma State has several unknowns on both sides of the ball, but the Cowboys will open the year with a non-conference schedule featuring Central Arkansas, Arizona State and South Alabama — three evaluations of strength ahead of a Big 12 opener vs. Iowa State on Sept. 23.
