Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

Oklahoma junior center Gabe Ikard represented the best of what a student-athlete can be. He carried a 4.0 GPA after six semesters of classwork at OU and then set his sights on medical school. His major, multidisciplinary studies, allowed him to build a unique degree path that prepared him to pursue that career goal.

He was named to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America first team, the first OU player since 1986 to receive first-team honors. A second team pick in 2011, he was the first Sooner to earn honors in consecutive years since 1966-67. He also earned Academic All-Big 12 first-team honors three consecutive years.

Ikard did whatever was needed to help the Sooners and he did it well enough to earn All-Big 12 first team honors twice, a consensus pick in 2012. One of eight finalists for the 2012 Wuerffel Award, he was an integral part of an offense that ranked in the NCAA’s Top 10 in total offense, passing offense and third downs.

A tight end in high school, Ikard started at left guard 12 games in 2010 as a redshirt freshman at OU. After the third game of his sophomore season, he moved to center due to an injury at that position. Eventually, he returned to left guard with intentions to play in that spot in 2012. Just before the start of fall practice, Ikard moved back to center after a teammate was forced to give up the sport and he made 12 starts that season.
Off the field, he was part of a group of Sooners that traveled to Haiti in May 2012 to spend a week there, working in the oppressive heat, building homes, painting, playing with children and leading faith services.

Gabe Ikard brought it all to Oklahoma as a talented football player, an outstanding student, and a leader in community service.