The Daily O’Collegian

If he had his way, the story would focus on the entire offensive line

Russell Okung doesn’t care for the spotlight.

There’s only one problem: He might be too good to avoid it.

Okung is a junior offensive lineman at Oklahoma State and, entering the 2008 season, he receives more individual attention than he would like.

“I will never reach a point of wanting to showcase myself,” Okung said. “There is no reason to do it. The offensive line is a singular unit. We all have to do our jobs to succeed. I am constantly needing to get better and learn and soak things in. That hasn’t changed since I was a freshman, and it won’t change.

“I still have a lot to do. There is always pressure, but there is no more pressure on me than any other lineman. I just need to push myself to be the best lineman I can be and help the offense succeed.”

The truth is Okung is too humble to admit his importance to the Cowboys’ success. Okung plays left tackle — generally regarded as one of the most pivotal positions in the sport.

The reason is the majority of quarterbacks in football are right-handed, and OSU’s Zac Robinson is no exception. The only thing standing between Robinson and a defensive end or linebacker charging from his blind side is Okung.

The play of Okung is vital to the Cowboys success, and he has proven in his first two years on campus that he is the right man for the job.

In the Big 12 conference — or anywhere in the nation — it would be a challenge to find a better guy to have protecting your back than Okung.

Last year he helped lead an offense that set a school record, averaging 35.4 points against Big 12 competition, and ranked seventh in the nation in total offense.

A great deal of that success can be linked to the performance of the offensive line and Okung. The Cowboy line allowed only 11 sacks in 13 games, ranking first in the conference and third in the nation. Five of those came in the season opening loss at Georgia, the eventual Sugar Bowl champion.

Okung was a highly touted recruit coming out of Fort Bend, Texas, and was a member of the Dallas Morning News’ Texas Top 100 list as a high school senior. He chose the Cowboys instead of Oklahoma, LSU and Nebraska.

Okung saw the field a lot sooner than even he could have predicted as a true freshman, starting at right tackle for the Cowboys’ final eight contests, a rarity for linemen at college football’s highest level. He said he has not looked back since. He enters the 2008 season having started 21 consecutive games for the Cowboys.

“He is a bull’s-eye as a recruit,” said offensive line coach Joe Wickline. “He has all the intangibles and what you are looking for in a player. He’s not there yet; he’s not a finished product and he knows that. He’s got a ways to go, but he is an absolute bull’s-eye as a college football player.

“He does everything we ask of him, he tries the best he can on the field and never misses a beat in the weight room and he never appears on any of the negative lists.”

Okung may not be a finished product yet, but judging by his performance on the field it would be hard to tell. In 2007, Okung garnered honorable mention all-conference honors and teammates and coaches voted him the team’s o-line MVP against Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas State, and he graded out as the best offensive line performer against Texas A&M.

However, his best performance in 2007 came in the Cowboys’ 49-33 Insight Bowl victory against Indiana, where he faced the nation’s sacks leader, Greg Middleton, who was voted a first-team All-American by http://www.collegefootballnews.com.

Middleton did not register a tackle.

It is not only his play on the field that sets Okung apart; Wickline said he has proven himself to be the consummate team player and a leader by example on and off the field.

He never takes an opportunity to hype himself up, but he never misses a chance to compliment a teammate’s performance.

Wickline said Okung lets his performance speak for itself.

“As a person, he’s a great guy and a good kid,” Wickline said. “If he keeps it up, he’ll achieve all he wants to achieve.

“He’s a phenomenal talent. He’s a phenomenal kid.”

In addition to his exceptional play in pass protection, he is a proficient run blocker. Okung said one of the most rewarding feelings an offensive lineman can have is to watch a running back blow past them into the defensive secondary. Okung had that feeling often as he helped pave the way for the nation’s eighth-best running team.

“Oh, it feels great,” Okung said. “That just makes it less plays out there that we have to run. [Kendall Hunter] always makes plays. Him and Beau [Johnson], they’re gonna be guys that make plays and fight for every yard, and we’re gonna be right there on the ground with him.”

Okung was quick to point out that his success is only noticed because of the hard work put in by everyone else on the field.

“Everything that I do is just part of the important piece that is the offensive line,” Okung said. “In pass protection, the receivers have to make a play. In run blocking, the backs have to make plays. We play in an offense where it’s not just the guy with the ball; it’s the other 10 guys out there making it happen. We are all equally important.

“There is no more pressure on me than any of those other 10 guys.”

Although Okung is just a junior still shy of his 21st birthday, he is already receiving attention from the NFL and is listed on several watch lists for the 2009 NFL Draft, but he said that is the last thing on his mind.

“That’s definitely not one of my thoughts right now,” Okung said. “I’ve always been the type of person who looks forward to that first game. Even when I was in high school, recruiting wasn’t as big to me as it was to other guys.

“My main goal is to prepare for whoever we’re playing that week, and even now I’m the same way. I definitely want to play pro football. That has always been a dream of mine, but it was also a dream to be in college, win a BCS championship and be a great player. I still have a lot of things to work toward.”

One thing is certain — the Cowboys are in good hands with Okung, and the NFL will just have to wait its turn.

To reach Ryan Stewart, e-mail sports@ocolly.com