By Michael Doutey
Oklahoma State gets another tuneup before facing their first test of the season in Boise State on September 15th. The Cowboys play host to South Alabama tonight inside Boone Pickens Stadium. The Pokes kicked off the season with a nice 58-17 win last Thursday over Missouri State.
The same can’t be said for South Alabama. The Jaguars began their season with a 30-26 home loss to Louisiana Tech. The Pokes are taking a small step up from last week. USA is more athletic than Missouri State, but they should still handle the Jags with relative ease.
Now, this is a big game for Taylor Cornelius, which here I wrote about yesterday. Last week was not the most encouraging, but it wasn’t was bad as I initially thought. However, he needs to be better. There is no question about that.
I would like to see him play fearless, like Mike Gundy has talked about all week. He needs to be comfortable throwing the football down the field and not try and place the ball like he did in week one. He also needs to be more decisive. There were times last week that he was late on some throws when receivers were open. Hopefully he can improve on that, because if he is seeing the field late and delayed then that’s a major issue.
But for those who want to crown Dru Brown the starter over Cornelius, please hold your horses. We know more about Brown than we do with Cornelius, at least statistically. But I am not sure Brown would be the starter at Hawaii right now. Have you checked out what the current Hawaii starter, Cole McDonald, is doing?
McDonald has thrown for 846 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions in two games. Against Colorado State, McDonald threw for 418 yards and three touchdowns. The following week against Navy, he threw for 428 yards and six touchdowns. That’s an average of 423 yards per game.
Dru Brown played in 25 games and started 22 of them at Hawaii over the last two seasons. In his career, he threw for 5,273 yards. In 2016, he threw for 2,488 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. In 2017, he threw for 2,785 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Brown averaged throwing 210.9 yards per game while at Hawaii.
Brown threw for over 300 yards four times in his career at Hawaii, twice in 2016 and twice again in 2017. Brown failed to throw for 250 yards or more in 14 games. He also didn’t meet the 200 yard mark in nine games over those two years. These aren’t numbers that jump off the page. These numbers are pretty underwhelming, to be honest.
So, I wouldn’t just assume Brown is going to be better than Cornelius when I am not convinced he’d be the starter at Hawaii right now. Still, I would like to see what Brown looks like with OSU’s group of playmakers. I think we are all curious to see what type of player he is. But the coaches are all very firm in their belief that Cornelius gives OSU the best chance to win. So if Cornelius looks improved today, let’s give him some time.
Getting to Know the South Alabama Jaguars
South Alabama fell to Louisiana Tech 30-26 in Mobile, Alabama last week. The Jaguars played three quarterbacks in Cole Garvin, Evan Orth and Cephus Jones. However, the three just combined to throw for 91 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. The Jags completed just 11 of their 23 combined passes.
The Jaguars are more comfortable rushing the football than passing. They run an option attack. There are lots of motions, pitches, jet sweeps and even some triple-option all out of the spread formation.
Last week, USA rushed for 217 yards on 43 rushes. Evan Orth, one of the quarterbacks, lead USA in rushing with 74 yards on just two carries, one of which went for 59 yards. Kawaan Baker was second in rushing with 51 yards on six carries. His longest rush was 28 yards. Interesting note, but Baker is listed as a receiver. Sam Harris, another receiver, was the third leading rusher with 40 yards on three carries. Harris also had a rush for 28 yards. Both Baker and Harris had 56 yards on two carries. But outside both of those big plays, the combined for seven carried for 35 yards, an average of five yards per carry.
Tra Minter is the starting running back and he was fourth on the team in rushing with just 23 yards on 16 carries. Maurice Mayo, the backup running back, had just 15 yards rushing on six attempts.
This tells me that the majority of the damage South Alabama can cause is either in the quarterback run game or with their receivers on the edge. For a defense that’s one game into a new scheme, OSU will be tested in their discipline of their defense.
The pass game for USA was non-existent in week one. Jamarius Way, a six-foot-four 220 pound receiver, caught two passes for 31 yards. Minter caught three passes for 28 yards out of the backfield. Jordan McCray, a 6-foot-5 190 pound receiver, caught two passes for just 14 yards. There is size on the outside, but I don’t think the OSU secondary will be tested much tonight.
As for their defense, USA gave up 231 yards rushing to Tech. Tech’s Jaqwis Dancy rushed for 144 yards on just 15 carries and two touchdowns, good for 9.6 yards per carry. Israel Tucker rushed the ball 19 times for 82 yards. So, OSU should be able to run the football well tomorrow.
J’Mar Smith went 19 of 29 for 209 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. The three interceptions grabs my attention. There could be a little more of a test from the Jaguars secondary than from the first game. That will be something to watch tomorrow as the game unfolds.
South Alabama Quotable
“The expectations are to win,” Jordan McCray told Mark Heim of al.com. “Going into the environment like this you really have to focus on the little things. You can’t get rattled. Trust your training. We practiced a long time, and we have some good coaches. We trust them with a good plan, and I think we can upset them and shock the world.”
Keys to the Game
Get Cornelius Comfortable
He was most comfortable and in rhythm when he was throwing shorter throws. He was great with swing passes, comeback routes and hitting backs out of the backfield. Once he gets comfortable, that’s when Mike Yurcich should open the offense up. I thought Yurcich did a good job of that last game but Cornelius didn’t respond well. That’s when Yurcich dialed it back and Cornelius got back into a rhythm. But we need to see Cornelius improve upon what he did last week. We need to see him cut it loose and play fearless like Gundy has preached this week.
Defensive Discipline
The defense will be tested in its discipline this week. South Alabama uses an option attack using running backs, receivers and some quarterback run. Last week, OSU struggled with the quarterback run, allowing Peyton Huslig to run for 109 yards. The Cowboys did a great job in rush defense overall, only allowing 110 yards rushing. But Huslig got loose a time or two, including a 58 yard run. The Cowboys defense needs to be sound to contain the quarterback run and the sweeps, pitches and option attack USA will bring.
Consistent Offensive Line Play
There were a few times OSU had some missed assignments on the o-line. But for the most of the game, the line was solid. Gundy thought the line played average. He thought they were almost dominant at times, but they had a few plays where they had issues. Then there was some issues executing inside the five yard line. That needs to be cleaned up in tomorrow’s game.
Predictions
OSU will roll to a 45-14.
Offensive MVP: Taylor Cornelius
Defensive MVP: Calvin Bundage
