Despite another loss in a difficult season, Oklahoma State running back Rodney Fields Jr. thrilled fans with a special performance.
STILLWATER — Rodney Fields Jr. hesitated for half a step.
The exact amount of time needed for the hole in the Cincinnati defense to open enough for him to slip through on his way to a 20-yard touchdown run.
A key moment on a night filled with highlight runs and hard-earned yards for the Oklahoma State running back.
It wasn’t enough to change the trend of 2025, with the Cowboys suffering their sixth straight loss, 49-17 to Cincinnati on Saturday night at Boone Pickens Stadium.
But the redshirt freshman running back, raised in the tiny Oklahoma town of Wright City, had the breakout game of his young career — though he’s been showing his skills in nearly every opportunity.
Fields had 190 scrimmage yards, with 163 on 21 rushing attempts, plus three receptions for another 27 yards.
Easily his best game so far, but not his only impressive performance. He had 152 yards from scrimmage against Tulsa, with 113 on the ground, and had two more games with over 100 scrimmage yards, hitting that mark four times in the last five weeks.
“He looked great,” left guard Bob Schick said. “It was super-fun to block for him, watch him make guys miss, watch him hit the holes and run. I thought we had a great gameplan for him, too.”
Cincinnati came into the game as the fifth-best run defense in the Big 12, giving up 129.2 yards per game, but thanks to Fields, the Cowboys passed that mark in the second quarter.
Fields’ 163-yard game is the fifth-highest single-game total by a freshman in OSU history — a list that includes Jamal Fobbs, Thurman Thomas, Mike Hamilton and Dominic Richardson.
Fields had 110 yards at halftime, becoming the first OSU player since Jaylen Warren at Boise State in 2021 to reach the 100-yard mark in the first half (no, Ollie Gordon II never did it).
For a kid like Fields, who cares as much about being a Cowboy as just about anything, to have such a performance in front of a nearly sold-out homecoming crowd, he fanned a flame that OSU fans hope they get to watch for three more years.
The 5-foot-9, 190-pound Fields emerged as a star at Southeast High School, then graduated from Del City. His path to OSU felt like destiny as he followed the passion of his father, Rodney Sr., a rabid Cowboy fan who was shot and killed when Rodney Jr. was 6.
After his special Saturday night, the always humble Fields pointed to the work of the offensive coaching staff for putting him in position to succeed.
With interim coach Doug Meacham handing over more responsibilities of the offense to quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns — including play-calling — the rushing attack also got a bit of a makeover as Johns and the offensive assistants schemed against the Cincinnati 3-3-5 defense.
“Kevin did a great job,” said Meacham, who had overseen the offense all season prior to this week. “His play-calling was good. They put together a really good run plan.
“Some of the formation stuff and the motions and shifts they did kind of neutralize that (middle safety) a little bit and create some running lanes. So it was a pretty good job by him.”
Fields watched the plan develop in practice and sensed an opportunity coming.
“Throoughout the week, we all as an offense had a great feeling that the plays that he called was gonna be good,” Fields said. “It’s not really much different. We just figured out things that were good for us to run, so we stayed with it.
“I felt like I had a lot of momentum and had a great feeling about the game, getting used to and seeing where the runs would be. Then they started hitting.”
With Johns handling the play-calling and having more input on schemes, the offense had a different feel. And it became clear from the beginning that the goal was to attack on the ground.
“I feel like our gameplan was to run the football,” Schick said. “You run the ball, everything else is easier, and that showed tonight. We had more explosive passes. (Quarterback Sam Jackson V) was able to make stuff happen with the wide receivers.”
With Sesi Vailahi and receiver Gavin Freeman also contributing, the Cowboys rushed for 228 yards on 48 attempts. Jackson and Fields accounted for both touchdowns via the run.
Jackson was more efficient in the passing game in his second start, hitting 11 of 19 throws for 149 yards.
When the fourth quarter began, OSU trailed 28-17 and had all the momentum, thanks to Fields’ third-quarter TD and defensive turnaround that was a product of some halftime adjustments.
But a few small mistakes became costly.
A mishandled snap by Jackson. A third-and-16 conversion allowed by the defense. A goal-line interception that became a 100-yard pick-six.
And from there, the Cincinnati snowball was rolling for a fourth-quarter runaway.
“Just some minor miscues that turned catastrophic. It’s like a little bitty thing and it just completely implodes on us,” Meacham said. “We were doing some really, really good things and there’s about five plays in there that make it look really, really bad.
“Just hate it. I want to win for them so bad, and I know they do, too.”
Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How Oklahoma State football RB Rodney Fields Jr. brought light in loss
Category: General Sports
