Oklahoma State’s Defense Stands Tall and Shows it’s Improving in Kansas Win

You could use the obvious caveat — it’s Kansas — but in this case, it’s not necessary. Oklahoma State’s defense looked dominant and destructive against the Jayhawks on Saturday as the Cowboys rode to a 31-13 victory.

OK, sure, it’s Kansas — I hear ya. But holding a Division I college football team to 13 points in any game is a real accomplishment for an OSU defense that has been riding some highs and lows this season. Kansas came into the day averaging 26 points per game on the season and 25 points per game in conference play, and it mustered fewer than 300 total yards for just the fourth time all season.

Oklahoma State’s rushing defense played Kansas exactly how I expected it would: by stacking the box, limiting Pooka Williams, and daring Carter Stanley to throw. That plan proved effective as Stanley threw it 37 times, completed 22 passes, and had two scores and one interception. Stanley had happy feet with OSU’s consistent pressure and KU’s offense, as a result, struggled to find a groove all game.

The OSU defense nearly pitched a shutout in the effort, but alas, KU scored 13 points in garbage time in the fourth quarter. I blame the telecast for jinxing it. It would have been OSU’s first shutout since Savannah State in 2012, and OSU’s first shutout at home against a conference opponent since … 1961. My parents weren’t even alive then, and most of you reading this probably weren’t, either.

“I’ve been proud of Jim [Knowles],” said Mike Gundy after the game. “Everybody knows it’s tough to play defense in this league, but defenses are rallying a little bit. You’re seeing better defensive play overall. You gotta have thick skin, and Jim’s done a good job with that. We still have a long ways to go, but I think our schemes and our understanding are getting better each week, and we’re tackling good.”

And just like that, slowly, surely, OSU’s defense is quietly surging to end the season. Since giving up 45 points in consecutive losses to Tech and Baylor, OSU has given up a combined 67 points on its three-game winning streak. Uncoincidentally, that rise has coincided with Kolby Harvell-Peel’s star turn from a reliable defensive anchor to an All-Big 12 caliber safety. KHP had two interceptions against KU — his fourth in the last two games — bringing his personal total of turnovers forced on the season to seven through 10 games. That’s an average of 0.7 turnovers forced per game this season, which is more than Kansas, UNLV, NC State, Ohio and Oklahoma are averaging this season … as a team. (Insert laughing face emoji here!)

“We were very aggressive on defense,” Gundy said. “Our guys did a good job. We defended, we got some pressure on the quarterback. If we could have gotten off the field on third down, we’d have had an unbelievable day on defense. Overall, they played really well.”

OSU’s defense will be tested thoroughly over the next two weeks, to be sure. It gets West Virginia at home next week, where the Mountaineers are averaging 21 points per game, followed by an Oklahoma team in the season finale that is on an historic pace offensively to crush all the other records Lincoln Riley’s OU-coached teams have set over the last few years.

That’s reason enough to not crown this OSU defense just yet, but the incremental improvements made, particularly on the back half of the secondary, show this team may be more equipped at this point in the season to head into a grueling stretch run of the schedule.