OSU football
The Cowboys have scored 51 total points through two games as the offense searches for answers. Presley is one.
That's not to say the Pokes haven't tried to get him the ball. He's been targeted 17 times in the passing game so far this season. The result has been eight catches for 103 yards.
That Cheez-It Bowl performance of last December seems long ago, when Presley had 118 yards and three touchdowns on six catches.
Of course, it's easy to forget Presley is still a young player. He had only touched the ball twice all season before the Cheez-It Bowl breakout to cap his true freshman season.
“You look at his total number of plays, he's been in, like, four games in his career,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “He didn't play enough until November to even talk about. He was on the team and practicing, but he wasn't playing in games. That's two different things.
“He's not anywhere near being a veteran player in my opinion. He gets it. He understands we can do more things with him now because of reps. But you saw him drop a ball last Saturday that he should've caught. That's still youth, and things happen fast for those guys. But he's gonna be fine.”
Presley will persist, because it's in his nature.
The characteristic that made him run and change direction and run some more on that punt return against Missouri State is the same one that makes him feel like he can be a playmaker at the college level.
No, this isn't high school. But Presley has shown — in what few opportunities he's had on the field and in several more at practice — that he can succeed against college defenders.
Presley is listed at 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds, but his lack of size has never mattered. He's always been the smallest guy on the field, but always prevailed.
“Being this small, you look out there, and think, ‘Dang, these guys are big,'” Presley said. “It's way different than high school, because everybody out there is big, fast, strong, everything.
“It doesn't scare me. Once you start playing, it fizzles down.”
Presley and the other young receivers are still working to gain the trust of the coaching staff, but Gundy knows Presley is a player they need making plays.
“He's a threat in the return game every time he touches the ball, in my opinion,” Gundy said. “And as he gets more experience, he's gonna make more plays. And we do count on him. We do a variety of things with him, because he has been around for awhile. He just hasn't played a lot in games.”