Oklahoma State linebacker Collin Oliver will be sidelined for an extended period of time because of a foot injury, coach Mike Gundy said Monday.
The three-time All-Big 12 selection exited the No. 13 Cowboys’ 39-31 double overtime win over Arkansas in the first half with a right foot injury and returned to the sideline in crutches and a boot. Gundy said Oliver will miss a “considerable number” of games and won’t have an update on his status for at least a month.
“It’s going to be awhile,” Gundy said. “Very unfortunate.”
Oliver has been one of the Big 12’s best defenders throughout his four seasons at Oklahoma State. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound senior earned Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-America honors in 2021 after recording 11.5 sacks. His 23.5 career sacks rank fifth-most in program history.
Obi Ezeigbo, a Division II transfer who played for Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo at Gannon University, filled in for Oliver against the Razorbacks and produced 9 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.
“What he did was really compete,” Gundy said. “He got put to the test with an extended number of plays that he really hadn’t had at this level, so it is different for him. I was proud of him and shared that with the staff. He actually played better than I thought he would.”
When asked what he liked about Eziegbo when recruiting him out of the transfer portal, Gundy responded candidly.
“Do you want me to go back into coachtalk or do you want me to tell you the truth?” Gundy asked. “The truth? He was very inexpensive. The number of players that we go after that were ready to play at this level, we can’t afford. So he was a good buy and a really quality young man that had had success and has physical characteristics we can work with. … We saw some things that we felt like we could develop into a good player at this level, and it wasn’t going to cost us the money that we didn’t have.”
Gundy said senior linebacker Justin Wright is also expected to miss extended time. Wright, a former All-AAC performer at Tulsa, took a medical redshirt for the 2023 season due to a knee injury.
The Cowboys go on the road to face Tulsa (1-1) on Saturday before entering Big 12 conference play against No. 12 Utah on Sept. 21.