Vernand Morency

Vernand is an explosive and talented back who showed the college football world what he was capable of at the end of the 2003 season. When starter Tatum Bell was sidelined with minor injuries, Morency answered with an exclamation point. He finished 2003 with 918 yards, just 82 shy of joining the 1,000-yard club. He had back-to-back 200-yard games at the end of the season, and served notice that the Cowboys’ backfield cupboard is not bare heading into 2004. A repeat of his late-season heroics could spell postseason honors for Morency this season.

2003: Morency was a third-team All-Big 12 pick by the coaches after rushing for 918 yards with six touchdowns his sophomore year. He ran for 227 yards on 32 carries with a touchdown against Baylor, becoming the first Cowboy to run for 200 or more yards in back-to-back games since David Thompson did it in 1996. Morency rushed for a career high 269 yards with three touchdowns against Kansas on 25 carries. That rushing total was the eighth-best single game total in school history. Vernand carried the ball seven times for 20 yards against Texas, and toted the pigskin nine times for 38 yards against A&M. He returned two kickoffs for 45 yards against Texas Tech. Morency carried the ball 11 times for 41 yards against Kansas State, and rushed 18 times for 189 yards, including two scores, in the win over Louisiana-Lafayette. He carried four times for 40 yards against SMU, and rushed eight times for 28 yards against Wyoming.

2002: Morency did not play in the last five games of the season due to an ankle injury. He finished the year with 269 yards on 58 carries and three touchdowns. He produced 66 yards on 12 carries against SMU, and rushed the ball 10 times for 32 yards against UCLA. He led the team with 50 yards rushing on 14 attempts with a touchdown against Northern Iowa. Vernand led the Cowboys with 108 yards rushing on 13 carries against Louisiana Tech. He had a 76-yard touchdown run, which tied for 17th longest in school history, in that game. Morency was the first Cowboy to go over the century mark in 10 games. He came to OSU after three seasons as an outfielder in the Colorado Rockies organization.

High School: A four-year letterwinner in baseball and two-year letterman in football and an All-American in both. He had more than 1,500 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns in his senior season. He was a 14th-round pick of the Rockies in 1998.

Personal: Born Feb. 4, 1980, Vernand is the son of Vernet and Evelyn Morency. He is majoring in education at Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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