The Oklahoma State Cowboys suffered one of the worst losses in the history of the program in Week Two. Let’s look at four plays that informed us far more about Oklahoma State than anything we learned in Week One.
- Oregon Ball, 14:20 remaining in 1st Quarter, 2nd and 4. RESULT: TOUCHDOWN. The CBS Television broadcast did a nice job illustrating this after the play. Oregon ran simple motion toward the stacked side of the field, leaving three defenders essentially on the third of the field where one receiver was located. Oregon now has a strong advantage allowing Noah Whittington to face no tackling threat or secondary players that can use an angle to catch him. Once he easily passed the line of scrimmage, he was on his way to a 59-yard touchdown.
- Oregon Ball, 13:24 remaining in 1st Quarter, 1st and 10. RESULT: TOUCHDOWN. In my previous article and in radio appearances since the UT-Martin game, I warned OSU fans that not only did they play an inferior team in week one, they played a team so conservative in their approach that typically the service academy offenses are far more aggressive than they were. Even when UT Martin dared to run (gasp) off tackle, they found some success. This deeply concerned me with Oregon’s athletes, and we saw why on this play which resembled OSU’s defense from a year ago. We already saw a misalignment on the first drive. Here we saw Kale Smith get blown by, David Kabongo slide by, not only missing a tackle but also in effect taking out Smith from being able to recover. A 65-yard score later and persistent talk of the off-season and particularly after holding UT-Martin to 7 points seemed to die down.
- Oregon Ball, 3:10 remaining in the 2nd Quarter, 3rd and 1. RESULT: ONE-YARD GAIN. This was a sequence that really impressed me. I believe it was the third play in four-play span in which OSU Linebacker Bryan McCoy made a tackle. Oregon picked up the first down on this play on a quarterback sneak, but it wasn’t without an extraordinary effort from McCoy, who leaped and front-flipped over the pile, while in one motion extending his arms backwards around Dante Moore’s waist in an attempt to bring him back from the line to gain. The game is 34-3 at this point, and this guy is going (literally) above and beyond with a sunset flip attempt. OSU fans should enjoy watching his effort while he is there.
- Oregon Ball, 9:57 left in the 4th Quarter, 4th and 5. RESULT: PUNT. You can say this about any game, “What if we scored here?” or “Just imagine if they scored there?” It never ends. However, you can look back at this game and see legitimate opportunities for Oregon and say this game should have been WORSE than 69-3! OSU forced a turnover on downs during the madness of the first quarter romp, Oregon missed a field goal, and while I couldn’t say they put the game on ice, they certainly took their foot off the gas in the second half. The Ducks pulled some starters, huddled and ran more clock while still giving their twos and threes legitimate game reps. They also punted here in a situation where they would typically try to pick up a first down this deep into opponent territory with shorter yardage remaining. There were some discussions during the week and after the game about motivation, but now we seem to routinely be having conversations after Oklahoma State football games about the quality of mercy of the opposing coach because of their lack of competitiveness. I feel the correct amount of mercy and pity was exhibited here.
The Cowboys will host Tulsa on September 19th.
