Mike Gundy, Players Give Reason Behind Oklahoma State Giving Up Big Plays on Defense

There’s apparently a lot more than meets the eye for Oklahoma State’s defense.

It was only Week 1, but it seemed like OSU’s most glaring defensive issue from last season hasn’t been fixed yet a year later. The Cowboys on Saturday gave up nine plays that are considered big plays, which consists of passes over 15 yards and runs of more than 10 yards. Last season, on average, OSU gave up 16.5 plays of 10 yards or more a game, which was second-worst in FBS. The Cowboys also ranked last in the Big 12 last season in plays given up of more than 20 yards. Those numbers were better Week 1 against South Dakota State, but still not satisfactory.

This was a concern written about plenty on PFB this past weekend, including my grades and Marshall’s 10 Thoughts. Plenty of other outlets points out the flaw, as well. It was frustrating fans on social media, too. But those of us in the press box or watching from home weren’t the only ones scratching our heads about this reoccurring problem from the Cowboys and seeing it still needs to be fixed.

“We played good defense, and then we give up four or five big plays,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said postgame. “And as you start to play teams that are talented, that’s going to create an issue. That’s the first area we’ve got to improve on.” 

Still only moments after the game at that point, Gundy didn’t yet know then what might have caused the big plays OSU gave up to the Jackrabbits. After a few days to watch film, he was asked about the hot topic again Monday at his weekly media luncheon ahead of the Cowboys’ matchup with SEC foe Arkansas.

“It’s a simple concept for what we do,” Gundy said. “Sometimes it’s a little confusing publicly. Our players need to have their eyes in the correct spots. They did a couple things that were really good. That’s why I mentioned I didn’t want to go into it too much without watching. They did a couple things scheme-wise that were really good, so four of the six (plays) we need to be more disciplined with our eyes. We need to adjust to what they did to us. That’s going to happen. Other teams, their coaches get a chance to coach and their players get a chance to play. The majority of it is, we have to have our eyes in the right place.”

Gundy’s explanation of players having their eyes focused on the incorrect area wasn’t just coaches speak to defend his team. Players are now allowed to watch film on tablets in the middle of games. Gundy hadn’t watched any by his postgame press conference, but after each of those busted plays, OSU players went back to the sideline and watched what went wrong. And they saw the same thing Gundy would eventually.

“I would say eyes,” linebacker Collin Oliver said postgame. “Maybe a little bit of bad eyes. Whoever it was doesn’t really matter. You have to understand you gave up those big plays. Once we go and watch them in film, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Said defensive back Trey Rucker: “I wouldn’t say it was missed assignments. It was just hitting the wrong gap or somebody lost a man or eye violations. But all that can be fixed within a week, a couple days, so we’re not really worried about that too much.” 

Within the week, OSU will host Arkansas at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Razorbacks, albeit against a lackluster FCS team, just put up 70 points in their season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

“We still got a lot of things to work on,” Rucker said. “As a unit, we executed. We just gotta clean up the little things, the little mistakes, the eye violations. That’s what’s gonna get us in trouble later down the road. But other than that, we had a great game.”