Oklahoma State’s Yards Per Carry Difference the Worst in the Mike Gundy Era by Some Margin

Football is a complicated game, but there’s a beautiful simplicity to certain aspects of it.

The first game of American football game was played in 1869, and through all the time that has past since then, a lot of games come down simply to which team can run the ball and which team can’t. Well, in 2024 Oklahoma State hasn’t been able to run the ball, and the Cowboys also haven’t been able to stop their opponents from running the rock.

OSU is just six games into the year, but the 2024 Cowboys have the worst yards per carry in the Mike Gundy era, and the OSU defense has allowed the most yards per carry in the Gundy era. The -2.3 yards per carry difference between OSU’s yards per carry and its opponents’ yards per carry is a full yard worse than it has been in any of the 20 seasons under Gundy. Here is that information in a more easily digestible chart (sorted by difference):

The data for 2024 is, obviously, incomplete, but this shows just how poor things have gone for the Cowboys this season.

This is just the second time OSU has allowed five yards a carry (again, still a lot of games to play this year), joining Gundy’s first year in 2005 — the only time a Gundy-led team has missed out on a bowl game.

In Saturday’s 38-14 loss to West Virginia, the Cowboys gave up 389 rushing yards on 65 carries — 6.0 yards a carry.

“We’re not fitting the run,” said Gundy after the game. “We have to do a better job of fitting the run. Without seeing it, it looked like to me we had our worst tackling day of the year. In my mind, I was counting up to eight tackles where we hit the guy and were going to hold him for a two-yard gain or less, and we bounced off and they ended up being big runs. I think that was a little bit of an issue. We did not tackle well in this game at all.”

It’s just the fifth time that a Gundy team has been in the threes in yards per carry. The other four of those teams had a combined record of 28-22 (saved immensely by the 10-3 2015 Pokes who won despite having a poor running game). Although that’s still in the positive, the 56% winning percentage is quite a bit lower than Gundy’s 67.3% career percentage.

Another concerning part about that chart is the fact that the bottom two in terms of yards per carry and yards per carry difference have come in the past three seasons. Context matters. That 2022 squad was affected mightily by the loss of Spencer Sanders, allowing teams to hone in on OSU’s rushing attack because of inexperienced quarterbacks having to fill in. But this 2024 offense, with nearly the entire group returning, is averaging 0.1 yards a carry less than that group and 1.5 yards a carry less than essentially all the same players did a year ago.

Again looking back at Saturday’s game against the Mountaineers, the Cowboys rushed for just 36 yards on 21 carries — 1.7 yards a carry.

“Our scheme is fine,” said Gundy after the game. “I have to look at that. I didn’t think we run blocked very well. I thought we got pushed around today. Again, I’m on the ground. In most cases, you’re not going to wholesale change in the middle of the season. You have to continue with what you’re doing. You can make small changes, but you have to get better at what you’re doing versus just saying you’re going to go to something new.”

The Cowboys are being beaten soundly on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. No matter how much returning production this group has from that 10-4 2023 team, if the controlling the ground game doesn’t change, the results feel unlikely to change. Just look throughout most of football history.