This Cowboy blocking won’t be enough against Arkansas and Utah
- Aug 31, 2024 Updated 5 hrs ago
Bill Haisten
Tulsa World Sports Columnist & WriterSTILLWATER — The South Dakota State-Oklahoma State football match-up was so interesting in part because the Ollie Gordon run game is so big for the Cowboys, while strong run defense was a defining characteristic of back-to-back FCS champion Jackrabbit teams.
Last season, SDSU allowed only 3.2 yards per attempt.
Impressive, but there was the belief that Oklahoma State certainly would do better than 3.2 against the Jackrabbit defense.
Oklahoma State did do better during Saturday’s opener at Boone Pickens Stadium.
Kinda.
Barely.
Against a lower-division defense — albeit a really good lower-division defense — the 17th-ranked Cowboys averaged 3.3 yards per rush attempt.
With the most experienced offensive line in major-college football, and with 2023 national rushing leader Ollie Gordon operating behind that line, the Cowboys rushed for only 138 yards in a 44-20 victory.
While Oklahoma State did end the Jacks’ 29-game win streak, this is a Cowboy team with aspirations that include the Big 12 title and a place on the College Football Playoff bracket.
If the Cowboys are destined for that type of season, they’ll have to block much better than they did on Saturday.
Ollie Gordon rushed for 104 yards and scored three TDs as the 17th-ranked OSU Cowboys opened with a 44-20 victory over South Dakota State.
Daniel Shular, Tulsa World
Gordon scored on run plays of 12 yards and 1 yard, and he scored also on a 22-yard pass play, but there never was a point at which the OSU offensive line took control of the game.
That 12-yard Gordon TD was the longest run play all day for Oklahoma State.
On several occasions during an uncomfortably warm but not terribly hot afternoon, there were stoppages in play as Jackrabbit defenders were affected by leg cramps.
I kept thinking after halftime that the OSU O-line would begin to dominate the visitors, but it never happened. On 15 third-period rush attempts, OSU netted only 53 yards.
Mike Gundy’s take on the 3.3-yards-per-carry debut of the 2024 Cowboys: “I thought we were average running the ball. (The Jackrabbits) played good defense. They always have. . . . But I don’t feel like we ran the football as well as we should.”
Gordon’s reaction: “I just feel like we need to get back in the lab with the linemen.”
A few years ago, the offensive line routinely was the most effective position group in a Cowboy football game.
On a heavier-than-expected total of 27 carries, Gordon finished with 104 yards. I wrote last week about the importance of getting meaningful production from Oklahoma State’s backup running backs, so that Gordon doesn’t have to run the football 27 times every week. In November, Gundy will want Gordon to be as fresh as possible.
Against South Dakota State, backfield backups Trent Howland and Sesi Vailahi combined for only 11 rushing yards on eight carries.
Next Saturday, and for the first time since 1978, an Arkansas Razorback football team visits Stillwater. Arkansas was picked to finish 14th in the 16-team SEC, but the Razorbacks will have larger, faster front-seven athletes than South Dakota State brought to town.
In their opener, the Razorbacks also faced an FCS opponent. With 10 touchdowns on 10 offensive possessions, Arkansas obliterated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70-0.
OSU’s Ollie Gordon scores one of his three touchdowns against South Dakota State.
Daniel Shular, Tulsa World
Against the Arkansas defensive front, Arkansas-Pine Bluff finished with 7 rushing yards.
Would you rather beat South Dakota State or lose to South Alabama?
Stupid question.
Objective No. 1 in any game is to win, and Oklahoma State’s 24-point victory over a solid Jackrabbit squad is immeasurably more appealing than last year’s 26-point home loss to South Alabama.
It is concerning, though, that OSU on Saturday didn’t reach the 100-yard mark in team rushing until the three-minute mark of the third period.
I watched SDSU-OSU through bifocal lenses. Through one lens, I focused intently on OSU’s offensive line. The Jacks loaded up against the run, which does explain to some extent why OSU’s rushing numbers were so modest – and why Alan Bowman was not sacked and rarely was pressured at all.
Through the other lens of my imaginary bifocals, I envisioned how Oklahoma State’s offensive-line personnel might fare against Arkansas and in the Sept. 21 Big 12 opener against league favorite Utah. On Sept. 28, there is a major challenge at Kansas State.
To paraphrase Gundy, what I saw on Saturday was OK, but the blocking wasn’t nearly what it needs to be against Utah and Kansas State.
From an awful start last season, OSU established a better identity and finished with a Big 12 Championship game appearance and 10 wins.
It appears that line play might be a problem, and this isn’t a nitpicky criticism of a Cowboy team that won 44-20 over the best team in FCS.
Go back 12 years or 15 years and watch the video of those Oklahoma State offensive lines. With execution and superior conditioning, they crushed the spirit of most opponents.
As Gordon stated, it’s time for the OSU coaches and the Cowboys to get back to the lab.
