By Mike Piellucci
FOXSportsSouthwest.com
All-American wide receiver Justin Blackmon and quarterback Brandon Weeden will return to Oklahoma State for another season.
The duo, which led the surprising Cowboys to their first 11-win season, announced their intentions in a joint press conference on Wednesday, and their return should establish the Cowboys as perhaps Oklahoma's foremost challenger in the Big 12.
Blackmon's return comes as somewhat of a surprise, as the receiver was projected by some experts to go as high as the middle of the first round of April's NFL Draft. Blackmon, who will be a redshirt junior next season, set school records of 111 catches, 1,782 yards and 20 TD catches en route to winning the Biletnikoff Award given to the nation's top wide receiver.
Weeden put up record-setting numbers of his own, highlighted by a school-record 4,277 passing yards to go with 34 TD passes. The rising senior will turn 28 next season after playing several years of minor league baseball for the New York Yankees.
While Oklahoma is the heavy favorite to win the Big 12 and perhaps start the season as college football's top-ranked team, Blackmon and Weeden ensure that Oklahoma State shouldn't be a one-season wonder with the departure of Offensive Coordinator Dana Holgorsen to West Virginia.
That's because the Cowboys return a whopping 10 starters from this season's second-ranked offense, including five of their top-six receivers. Of course, the one defection is a big one, as tailback Kendall Hunter departs after compiling more than 4,000 rushing yards, including a 1,548 last season en route to a Big 12 rushing title.
Still, optimism abounds in Stillwater, with hopes that rising sophomore Joseph Randle can fill the void as the primary ball carrier after averaging 5.5 yards per carry as a true freshman. Another sophomore, Jeremy Smith, is the early favorite to help share the load, but incoming freshman Hershel Sims also should contend for a role after a stellar prep career at Abilene High in Texas.
There are enough concerns on defense, as a beleaguered unit that ranked 88th nationally suffers heavy losses on the front seven, and on special teams, which has a huge hole to fill after Groza Award-winner Dan Bailey's graduation, to question if OSU has the mettle to win the Big 12. However, the return of Blackmon and Weeden guarantees that they are in the hunt, and as both players helped demonstrate in 2010, the Cowboys are more than capable of surprising.
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