10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 38-14 Loss to West Virginia

Oklahoma State slid to 0-3 in Big 12 play, falling behind big in the first half to West Virginia and then showing neither the firepower, nor execution, necessary to fight back into it, ultimately losing 38-14.

The Cowboys made some moves in the second half, specifically at quarterback, but it was too little too late. In fact, I’m not confident that the Cowboys would have been able to dig themselves out of that hole if officials let both Alan Bowman and Garret Rangel share a spot in the backfield.

The Cowboys head into a much-needed bye week with more questions than answers, and even still more indictments. Here are my 10 Thoughts on a horrendous, and telling, OSU loss.

1. A Horrible Start

It couldn’t have started much worse for the Cowboys.

West Virginia, fresh off its own bye week, marched down the field on its first drive to little resistance. The Cowboys were able to hold the Mountaineers to three, but that was the only time. Before the first quarter expired, OSU was down 10-0 and it felt like the Pokes were fortunate to be that close. OSU had 16 total yards in the first period to WVU’s 120, and the Cowboys averaged just two yards per play. Alan Bowman & Co. had -1 passing yard. Ollie Gordon & Co. had just 17 rushing yards. With offensive consistency being elusive, at best, so far in the season, a dry start like that is insurmountable.

2. Gundy’s Worst Big 12 Start Since His First

The Cowboys have started 0-3 in conference play for the first time since Gundy’s first season in charge in 2005, and there’s really no good reason for it. OSU came in as experienced as any team in the country and as talented as any in the Big 12. What’s worse, the Cowboys have been tested. Most of this team went through that 2-2 start last year and showed the fortitude to rebound for a 10-win finish. Over the first half of its season, this team hasn’t shown that type of awareness, or worse, that type of fight for any significant stretch so far.

3. WVU Can Run It

I wrote about how good WVU’s rushing attack was, but I had no idea the Mountaineers would run over the Cowboys like this.

We’ll get into OSU’s rushing yard woes below, but the Mountaineers were impressive to watch. Aside from their dual-threat QBs, the Mountaineers have two dynamic backs that shared the spotlight in Stillwater.

Jahiem White racked up 158 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. CJ Donaldson added another 77 yards and two rushing scores, and that’s ignoring over 130 yards from two quarterbacks. Give the true established O-Line the credit. WVU didn’t get the offseason pub that OSU’s did, but its frontline returned a ton of starting experience, and it’s actually showing.

4. OSU Can’t

It hurts to type that, but it’s true.

OSU logged just 36 rushing yards on Saturday. It’s the third time in six games that the Cowboys have failed to reach 100 rushing yards and the 1.7 yards per carry is the worst outing in two years. Through six games, OSU ranks 15th out of 16 Big 12 teams at just 91 yards per game.

#okstate The most glaring sign that OSU’s 2024 run game is historically bad: Today’s Cowboy time of possession was 17 minutes and 24 seconds. It’s the lowest such total in program history. The previous low: 17 minutes and 31 seconds in the Utah game, two weeks ago.

— Bill Haisten 🇺🇸 (@billhaisten) October 5, 2024

With the nation’s leading rusher and its most experienced offensive line returning, the Cowboys were supposed to be able to impose their will on opposing teams. They can barely get a word in.

5. Losing Ground

Something has happened to OSU’s rush defense. Let me start again. No one can find OSU’s rush defense.

Over the previous seven seasons, OSU allowed teams to rush for at least 300 yards twice. In the last two weeks, the Cowboys have gotten bulldozed to the effect of 300 and 389 yards, respectively.

West Virginia returned the Big 12’s best rushing offense from last year, sure. But OSU isn’t stopping anybody on the ground. We will get to the injuries and the overall defense below, but OSU is so bad here that it’s worth its own point.

6. Gimme a West Virginia QB (Please!)

I’m being a bit dramatic here but, Jeez, look at ’em go.

Garrett Greene looked like the best parts of Spencer Sanders for chunks of the game, ripping off 39-yard juts up the middle and 15-yard TDs, and Nicco Marchiol somehow thoroughly impressed me in real time. I was shocked to see that he went just 1-for-1 for 10 yards, according to the box score. That one was a TD.

The two visiting quarterbacks combined for 132 rushing yards and six points. This may be straight knee-jerk, but I’m starting a petition that OSU doesn’t offer another QB with slower than a 4.6 forty. Who’s signing?

7. “We’ll Need to Look at Where We’re At.”

As it currently stands, I’ll assume that Garret Rangel will start when the Cowboys crawl out of their bye week for a matchup against BYU. But who the hell really knows? I’m not sure Mike Gundy does, and that’s his problem. In fact, Gundy has had a quarterback problem for going on two years, which is more than a small bit disconcerting.

Alan Bowman has thrown six interceptions in the Cowboys’ last three games (all losses) and he was less than consistent before that. Rangel was the only butt off the bench on Saturday, and OSU fans are beginning to wonder if Zane Flores is an actual player or an apparition.

Regardless, OSU doesn’t appear to have a clear-cut answer at QB halfway through its season. And that’s not a good sign. Neither is the fact that Gundy alluded to it coming down to “gut feeling.”

8. Overall Defense

The Cowboys came into Saturday ranking 130th in total defense per game (out of 134 teams), allowing 481 yards per game. They allowed the Mountaineers to trapse up and down the field inside Boone Pickens Stadium, picking up 558 yards at nearly seven yards per play. Based on my paltry math skills, that puts OSU at 494 yards per game allowed, which should not only drop the Pokes a couple more spots down the ranking but would also — halfway through the regular season and including nonconference opponents — put them on pace to turn in the worst mark of any Big 12 team in eight seasons.

It’s true that the Pokes were shorthanded now with two major playmakers out in Collin Oliver and the Big 12’s second-leading tackler Nick Martin, but let’s be honest. OSU has been getting gashed at the line of scrimmage all season and it probably means something when your leading tackler is a safety in Trey Rucker.

9. What About Ollie?

OSU’s best player has been criminally under-utilized this season. You can blame anyone you want, but a Doak Walk winner with (essentially) the same quarterback, offensive line, receiving corps, coaching staff… should be averaging more than 64 yards per game halfway through the season.

Add to that an injury scare.

Gordon went to the ground early in the third quarter and didn’t return with a possible leg injury. ESPN analyst Kirk Morrison stated that Gordon should take the proverbial knee and sit out the rest of the season, regardless of his injury status, to save himself for the NFL. Regardless of what your beliefs are on that, the fact that it’s even mentioned tells you exactly where OSU is as a program at this point.

10. What About OSU?

The Cowboys head out into a bye week scrambling. They are 3-3, facing back-to-back road games after their bye week with realistic chance of returning home 3-5 and 0-5 in conference play. There is plenty that we will get into about the coaching, the coordinators, the QBs and the defense, and where the hell this underperforming rushing attack goes, but the Cowboys have some soul-searching to do over the next two weeks. A bye week couldn’t come at a more necessary time.