While it’s about football players, basketball is in the same boat and several of our players have the extra year but some of this is crazy.
By By Steve Magaree
Each time he sees his freshman teammates, Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman gets a reality check about the length of his college career.
“When I was playing as a true freshman at Texas Tech, they were probably in seventh grade,” Bowman said.
Bowman is entering his seventh year of college football and his situation isn’t unique in this era of college football.
Four years after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season resulted in every player getting an extra year of eligibility, its impact on the game remains apparent as players extend their college careers into their mid-20s also using redshirt rules.
Hundreds of Bowl Subdivision players are in their sixth season of eligibility and dozens are in their seventh year or later. Miami tight end Cam McCormick is entering his ninth season of eligibility at the age of 26.
No. 17 Oklahoma State has two seventh-year players — Bowman and linebacker Justin Wright — and 14 others entering their sixth seasons.
To say there is a lot of experience on college football rosters is an understatement. Other schools with multiple seventh-year players include No. 12 Utah (QB Cam Rising and TE Brant Kuithe), No. 15 Tennessee (OT John Campbell and LB Keenan Pili), Rutgers (OL Reggie Sutton and WR Naseim Brantley), Toledo (LB Daniel Bolden and TE Anthony Torres) and Utah State (QB Spencer Petras and OL Wyatt Bowles).
Then there’s Indiana, which has four seventh-year players and 10 sixth-year players in its first season under coach Curt Cignetti. The seventh-year contingent includes one returning player (DL Jacob Mangum-Farrar) and three who followed Cignetti from James Madison (RB Ty Son Lawton, RB Solomon Vanhorse and OL Nick Kidwell).
Bowman believes this prevalence of older players produces crisper football. FBS teams averaged 5.83 penalties and 51.15 penalty yards per game last season, the lowest numbers in both categories since 2013. “There’s a lot more good football being played,” Bowman said. “You don’t see as many mistakes from us older guys. I just think clean, better football. When you’ve got a lot of guys who’ve played a lot of games, you’re going to see less mistakes. “I’ve been blessed, I would say,” Bowman, 24, said. “It’s been really awesome.”
Pushing eligibility
COVID rules let football players extend careersBy By Steve Magaree
Each time he sees his freshman teammates, Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman gets a reality check about the length of his college career.
“When I was playing as a true freshman at Texas Tech, they were probably in seventh grade,” Bowman said.
Bowman is entering his seventh year of college football and his situation isn’t unique in this era of college football.
Four years after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season resulted in every player getting an extra year of eligibility, its impact on the game remains apparent as players extend their college careers into their mid-20s also using redshirt rules.
Hundreds of Bowl Subdivision players are in their sixth season of eligibility and dozens are in their seventh year or later. Miami tight end Cam McCormick is entering his ninth season of eligibility at the age of 26.
No. 17 Oklahoma State has two seventh-year players — Bowman and linebacker Justin Wright — and 14 others entering their sixth seasons.
To say there is a lot of experience on college football rosters is an understatement. Other schools with multiple seventh-year players include No. 12 Utah (QB Cam Rising and TE Brant Kuithe), No. 15 Tennessee (OT John Campbell and LB Keenan Pili), Rutgers (OL Reggie Sutton and WR Naseim Brantley), Toledo (LB Daniel Bolden and TE Anthony Torres) and Utah State (QB Spencer Petras and OL Wyatt Bowles).
Then there’s Indiana, which has four seventh-year players and 10 sixth-year players in its first season under coach Curt Cignetti. The seventh-year contingent includes one returning player (DL Jacob Mangum-Farrar) and three who followed Cignetti from James Madison (RB Ty Son Lawton, RB Solomon Vanhorse and OL Nick Kidwell).
Bowman believes this prevalence of older players produces crisper football. FBS teams averaged 5.83 penalties and 51.15 penalty yards per game last season, the lowest numbers in both categories since 2013. “There’s a lot more good football being played,” Bowman said. “You don’t see as many mistakes from us older guys. I just think clean, better football. When you’ve got a lot of guys who’ve played a lot of games, you’re going to see less mistakes. “I’ve been blessed, I would say,” Bowman, 24, said. “It’s been really awesome.”
