Oklahoma State Football has two major issues and I’m not sure that they can be fixed. The Cowboys can’t run the football and, on the other side of the ball, they can’t stop their opponents from running the ball. Once thought to be a frontrunner to make an appearance in the Big 12 championship game, OSU is winless in conference play after having lost a third consecutive game.
Saturday’s 38-14 loss to West Virginia highlighted both issues for the Cowboys. Led by Jahiem White’s 158 yard performance, the Mountaineers ran for 389 yards, at a clip of 6 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State countered with just 36 rushing yards and 1.7 yards per carry. That’s the perfect recipe for a loss, and it’s the third week in a row the Cowboys have cooked it up.
Ollie Gordon hasn’t cracked the century mark on the ground since the opener against South Dakota State. That’s not what fans expected to see as an encore to last year’s Doak Walker Award. The OSU rushing attack has been non-existent this season, and watching them in conference play has been excruciating. In three Big 12 games, they’re averaging just 70 yards per game on the ground, and the biggest mystery is that the OSU offensive line returns 240 total starts along the offensive line, which is the most in the country. How is it possible that they can’t run the ball?
The other side of the ball isn’t quite the mystery. The Cowboys are just getting manhandled up front on defense. It’s the point of attack for opposing offenses and puts any team with a mediocre or better rushing attack as an immediate threat. It’s not just a conference thing, it’s been a season-long issue. Opponents are averaging 235 yards and nearly 5.5 yards per carry against the OSU defense.
The good news is that it’s easy to diagnose what the problems are for Oklahoma State. The bad news is that halfway through the season, this is pretty much their identity. They’re going into a bye week now and on the other side of it they’ll have a road trip to BYU waiting on them. The Cougars rank 91st nationally with an average of 138.8 rushing yards per game, but they also rank Top 50 in run defense, allowing just 3.68 yards per carry and 121.6 yards per game.
I’ve got to be honest, it’s hard to find a way to be confident at the moment.
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