By Michael Doutey
Oklahoma State made a statement with a dominating 44-21 win over 17th ranked Boise State. The Cowboys outplayed the Broncos in every facet of the game. The Pokes defense had one of their best games of recent memory, the special teams made key plays to take command of the game and the offense found their way throughout the game. Tonight’s impressive performance moves OSU to 3-0. OSU has a very favorable schedule the next six weeks and could be staring a 9-0 start right in the face. But lets not get ahead of ourselves.
But this was an eye opening win for OSU. By kickoff, OSU was the underdog on their own field. But the Pokes came into the game focused and ready. The moment wasn’t too big for them, even with a new starting quarterback. This was a really solid win over a really good team.
There were questions about how good the 2018 Cowboys are coming into this game. Was Taylor Cornelius the guy for OSU at quarterback? Could he lead the team to victory? Is the offensive line good enough? Is the defense any better under Jim Knowles? Can this team compete with the upper echelon teams of the Big 12?
Today we got some answers. Today we learned that OSU is a team, even in a reloading season, where they are a team to be feared. Here are today’s five observations.
1.OSU’s Defense Might Be Good
Even after watching this performance I am cautious saying this. But it is hard not to after what we saw today. OSU did an excellent job defensively. The Cowboys sacked Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien seven times and recorded 10 tackles for loss. OSU allowed just 34 yards rushing on 31 carries, good for just 1.1 yards per carry. While Rypien did have a big statistical game, throwing for 380 yards on 39 of 56 passing, OSU really held him in check. Rypien, who averaged 11.9 yards per completion coming into this game, was held to 6.8 yards per completion today. A big reason was because of how much OSU’s pass rush bothered Rypien. Then OSU did a really good job of tackling today as well. Most times when a pass was completed, the Cowboys were right there to make the stop. OSU’s defense held Boise to 1.75 points per drive, which is really excellent. Calvin Bundage lead the team in tackles with 12. He had 1.5 tackles for loss and .5 a sack. Sophomore, Malcolm Rodriguez was second with 11 tackles. Jordan Brailford was the player of the game. He was all over the place. More on that in a moment. He had three sacks in this game and was crediting with half a TFL. Jarrell Owens recorded two sacks. Devin Harper had 1.5 sacks. It was a party in the backfield and it was one of the most impressive defensive performances of the Gundy era.
2. OSU’s Special Team Were the Difference
Things started rocky for the OSU special teams. Matt Hockett, the reserve punter who is filling in for the recovering Zac Sinor, shanked his first punt, giving Boise State a short field. But on that drive, Boise missed a chip shot from 26 yards as Haden Hoggarth doinked his attempt off the right upright. After the Cowboys tied to game 7-7, OSU took control of the game after Amen Ogbongbemiga blocked a punt and OSU recovered the football at the Boise seven yard line. Corn punched the ball into endzone on a power run and the Cowboys took a 14-7 lead. Later in the second half, true freshman Jarrick Bernard blocked another punt and Za’Carrius Green recovered the ball and took it to the house for a touchdown, giving the Cowboys a 34-14 advantage. Matt Amendola was on his game too, hitting all three of his field goal attempts, including a 48 yard try. Boise is typically really good in special teams, but today the Pokes dominated that aspect of the game and it was huge in their win today.
It’s like we’ve been saying all week … Oklahoma State has some of the best special teams in the country. pic.twitter.com/MIhZdYRJin
— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) September 15, 2018
3. Cornelius got the job done
It wasn’t always pretty, but Corn got the job done. The first quarter from the whole offense was abysmal. They couldn’t get anything going at all. Even at the half, OSU wasn’t lighting the world on fire. Corn was just 4-10 passing for 96 yards. The best play OSU had was with the quarterback run. Corn had 49 yards rushing on nine carries and a score at the half. But in the second half, Corn showed up in a big way. He was 11-16 for 147 yards and a touchdown. One drive in particular really caught my eye. The first play was a zone read where TC kept the ball and was tackled for a five yard loss. Instead of allowing that play to derail the drive, TC moved past it and picked up a first down. Later on the same drive he was sacked for a seven yard loss. The very next play he threw a touchdown to Stoner on a crossing route. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich called his performance “gutty.” It is hard to argue with that. It might be the best description of his performance. He ran the football for two scores and then threw for 243 yards and a touchdown. He threw strikes. He improvised and created something out of nothing. He competed and made good decisions. But most importantly, he didn’t throw any picks. He was solid. He got the job done and now hopefully everyone will get on board with the Corn Show.
4. Jim Knowles is a Mad Scientist
I thought it was neat when Calvin Bundage was used as an edge pass rusher in game one. But I had no idea that he had so much more creativity to use. His defense creates pressure from all sorts of angles and he does so by moving players all over the field. He had Jordan Brailford lined up at defensive end, middle linebacker, outside linebacker and I believe a time or two over a slot receiver. Bundage was all over the place. Brock Martin and Mike Scott all were used at middle linebacker. He used three man fronts with defensive ends lined up at defensive tackle while the tackles were on the outside. He used formations where the defensive line was all defensive ends. He mixed and matched guys all over the field. But most importantly, he found the best attribute each player has and put that player in the best spot to use their talents. It might sound simple but it was a really effective. It was fun to watch this defense get after it. When was the last time you could say that about an OSU defense?
5. Offensive Line Made Strides
The offensive line really wasn’t great in the first half. They had me very worried, to be honest. But as the second half went on, holes started to open up and Justice Hill got loose. 102 of Hill’s 123 yards all came in the second half. OSU made some adjustments at the half and they really started to open holes in the fourth quarter and it was the first encouraging sign we’ve seen all season long from that unit. They still have issues on short yardage and goal to go situations, but they are improving. OSU is getting creative too. Yurcich implemented the power run game with Corn on short yardage plays. That helped, especially in the first half when everything was a struggle. But as the game wore on, the better they got. It was a step in the right direction and we’ll have to see if they can continue to gain continuity, confidence and improvement as the season progresses. They still have a long ways to go, but today they proved they are capable of improvement.
TD was called back because he stepped out, but look at this stiff arm by Justice Hill! Sheesh! #OKST pic.twitter.com/voesSyWGGc
— New Account (@ftbeard_17) September 15, 2018
p class=”p1″>The Cowboys will surely shoot up in the polls after their impressive win today. Up next is the first night conference game in nearly two seasons. Texas Tech roles into Stillwater for a 6 p.m. kickoff inside BPS.
