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Mike Gundy Has Been Liberal on Fourth Downs This Year, and It’s Mostly Paid Off

OSU has been attempting (and converting) fourth downs at a record pace.

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Last Saturday night, with the whole world (that he lives in) watching, Mike Gundy made the call to go for it on fourth and 12. It wasn’t exactly the act of a wild, mulleted riverboat gambler. It wasn’t really a decision at all. The Cowboys were down 7 in Norman to the Sooners with 1:18 remaining.

But it was the second straight week that Oklahoma State faced a fourth-down play to either seal a game or take the lead in the waning moments. The immediate result was favorable this time around, but neither ultimate goal was met.

One week earlier, Mike Gundy put the ball in the hands of his trusted fifth-year senior Taylor Cornelius with the game on the line. The Cowboys were tightly grasping their dwindling 31-28 lead. It was fourth-and-2 on Baylor’s 36-yard line, on Baylor’s field.

Unfortunately, this one ended with a sack and a loss of 9 yards that put the Bears 27 feet closer to what would be their go-ahead touchdown.

Given the circumstances, I didn’t have a problem with Gundy rolling with his offense on the punting down in either scenario. You can argue the play call at Baylor if you like, or at least the execution.

“You’re in fourth and 3,” Gundy said after the Baylor game. “You get a chance to get a first down, the game’s over.  If you punt it, they are going to get it on the 20. Obviously it didn’t — those 14 yards at that time didn’t make a difference, but I would have liked for Taylor to have thrown the ball away, is what I would have liked to happen on that particular play.”

For some reason, this Oklahoma State team is attempting (and converting) on fourth downs at a record pace. And quite a few times they’ve gotten a big play out of them.

During the Texas game, OSU went 2-of-2 on fourth-down plays (each with 1 yard to go). Each ended with touchdown passes, one each to Jelani Woods and Tylan Woods.

“We work in practice on these fourth down-and-1 situations and such” said Wallace after the Texas game. “Nobody is going to give it up to us, so we just have to always go and make a play and that’s what we did.”

That would-be game-winner on fourth and 12 in Norman was an instant classic. The touchdown pass from Cornelius to Tylan Wallace was No. 15 (in 21 attempts) on the season which set a new Oklahoma State record for fourth-down conversions, through just 10 games.

Five of those 15 fourth-down conversions were touchdowns, with three (including one of those TDs) resulting in gains of 20 yards or more.

OSU is currently second in the league (and T-6th nationally), converting 71 percent of its fourth-down attempts, and has gone for it on that final down a Big 12-leading 21 times. Kansas and Kansas State come in next at 16 attempts apiece.

Team Att. Conv. %
Oklahoma State 21 15 71%
Kansas State 16 8 50%
Kansas 16 6 38%
Texas Tech 15 10 67%
Texas 12 9 75%
TCU 12 4 33%
Iowa State 11 7 64%
Baylor 11 5 45%
Oklahoma 9 5 56%
West Virginia 7 5 71%

 

Last year, the Cowboys went for it 20 times in 13 games, but completed 65 percent. You have to go all the way back to 2009 to see 21 attempts in a season, but that team finished converted on just 47.6 percent of its fourth-down attempts.

In 2015, the Cowboys boasted an 80 percent success rate (the school’s best ever) on fourth downs, but only attempted 10 all season. And that was also the year of the Walshing Machine package for goal-line and short-yardage situations. That offense also boasted two quarterbacks more experienced — and who I would have trusted more — heading into the season.

If the Cowboys, desperate for bowl eligibility, find themselves in a similar situation on Saturday where they need to go for it, No. 9 West Virginia just might oblige. At 58.8 percent, only Oklahoma (66.7 percent) allows teams to convert on that final down at a higher clip in the Big 12.

Whether his newfound affinity for that final down is led by circumstances or by a more cavalier demeanor  — or maybe he simply recognizes that this team has less to lose —  Gundy’s not been afraid to roll the dice on that would-be punting down. And it’s mostly paid off.

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