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10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 49-17 Loss to No. 24 Cincinnati

Thoughts on an OSU loss that was closer than the final score entailed.

Published

7 months ago

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[Devin Wilber/PFB]

BOX SCORE
PHOTOS

STILLWATER — The Cowboys gave their homecoming crowd a reason to stick around Saturday night, but the end result ended up being another lopsided loss.

Oklahoma State fell to Cincinnati 49-17 in Boone Pickens Stadium, as the Cowboys fell to 1-6 overall and 0-4 in Big 12 play. Here are 10 thoughts on the game.

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1. It Was Competitive for Longer

This was the first time in a long time I couldn’t start writing my thoughts at halftime.

The score ended quite lopsided, but it was an 11-point game after three quarters. The defense couldn’t stop a nose bleed in the first half, but OSU was still hanging around.

It’s sad that a 49-17 OSU loss feels like progress, but the final score to this game doesn’t exactly tell the whole story.

2. When It Ended

Cincy scored to take a 35-17 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Pokes started driving after that.

The Cowboy offense marched down to the Cincy 13-yard line in 13 plays — talk about unlucky.

That lack of luck showed itself on play No. 14 of the drive, as Sam Jackson was intercepted at the goal-time, and Matthew McDoom spelled doom for the Pokes by housing that pick 100 yards back the other way.

That put an end to the festivities, as it went from a potential 35-24 (or 25 if OSU went for 2 and got it) game to a 42-17 game.

3. Weird History

That 100-yard interception return was the longest in Cincinnati history.

It broke a record set in 1958 … against Oklahoma State.

Back in 1958, the Bearcats were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. OSU had just gotten out of that league and was an independent before the Big Eight started in 1960.

If you’re looking for more history to repeat itself from 1958, the following happened that year:

  • NASA was formed (aliens on the way?)
  • The Baltimore Colts won the NFL Championship (Daniel Jones does have the Colts rolling)
  • The Nutcracker was shown on prime-time TV in color for the first time

4. Rodney Fields’ Career Day

The beacon of light in this football game was running back Rodney Fields, as the redshirt freshman ran for a career-high 163 yards on 21 carries. He also got into the end zone.

After missing the season-opener, this is Fields’ second 100-yard performance of the season, which is especially impressive given how anemic this offense has looked for much of the year.

He had three runs of at least 10 yards, including a 41-yard scamper to start the second quarter. His touchdown run was from 20 yards out.

His patience is impressive, and once he finds a hole, he glides through it. His 5-foot-9, 195-pound frame makes it to where he can duck behind 300-pound offensive linemen and allow a hole to develop before blasting off Jimmy Neutron style.

The offensive line deserves a lot of credit, as well. The group has dealt with some attrition and on Saturday started three underclassmen. Andrew Mitchell and Cooper Bassett are doing great work.

5. Jackson Looked Better, but It’s Still Not an Ideal Situation

For the first time since Sept. 30, 2023, Sam Jackson V threw for 100 yards in a football game. That date was his last game at Cal before he transferred to Auburn to play receiver.

He made his first start as an OSU quarterback last week. Here is that performance against Houston compared to his performance Saturday night:

Houston: 7-for-16, 84 passing yards, 1 INT, -28 rushing yards
Cincinnati: 11-for-19, 149 passing yards, 1 INT, -3 rushing yards

I imagine a game of live reps did a lot for Jackson, and he overall looked more comfortable. Having a rushing attack almost certainly helped that.

Jackson also looked more ready to run himself if something wasn’t there against Cincy, whereas against Houston, I felt he was sometimes sticking with a play too long instead of just taking off.

If he can take another step like that going into next week, then look out. Zane Flores went through a little bit of warmups Saturday, though, so perhaps Jackson’s days behind center are again numbered.

6. Welcome Back, Sesi Vailahi

Sesi Vailahi had as big an impact on this game as he’s had all season.

The Cowboys brought five capable running backs into the season and rotated them quite frequently to start the year.

Vailahi ran nine times for 32 yards in the season-opener. Those 3.6 yards per carry were best among OSU running backs against UT-Martin, but he didn’t get another carry until garbage time last week against Houston when he took seven handoffs in the Cowboys’ final drive and ran for 27 yards.

Meacham said after the game that Vailahi had been a little banged up earlier in the year and that the rotation just hadn’t made its way back to him.

But he had nine touches Saturday against Cincy. He ran seven times for 38 yards (5.4 yards per) and caught both of his targets for another 14 yards.

Vailahi runs hard, like his life depends on it. His cuts are just as hard, and with that speed and his body shifting on cuts, it makes he makes for an awkward tackle.

7. Tackling Wasn’t Good

The PFF numbers are going to be gross on that tackling, I do believe.

Brendan Sorsby was fantastic Saturday (and has been all season), but his touchdown run in the third quarter saw him wiggle around five OSU defenders.

That was just one play of a handful where tackling was less than ideal.

8. Third Downs Were Killer

The Cowboys’ D had its moments but struggled mightily to get off the field on third down.

Cincy went 6-for-10 on the money down Saturday, and one of those conversions felt particularly backbreaking.

The Cowboys had Cincinnati in a 3rd-and-16 early in the fourth quarter while the Bearcats had a 28-17 lead. Sorsby ripped a ball to Jeff Caldwell with defensive back convening on him, and Caldwell was able to make a tough catch and finish with a 38-yard gain.

Cincy paid that drive off with a touchdown and never really looked back.

OSU’s offense also had a third down not go its way that felt big at the time. OSU had a 3rd-and-1 midway through the third quarter (the possession before Cincy converted the 3rd-and-16), but Jackson mishandled the snap. It got by him, and the play resulted in a loss of 12, forcing a punt.

9. Solid Start for Kevin Johns

This was the first game quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns took over play-calling duties from interim head coach Doug Meacham, and it’s hard to argue against the move given that offensive performance.

The Cowboys finished with 377 yards of total offense, their third-most in a game this season. It was more yards than the Pokes put up against UT-Martin.

OSU rushed for 228 yards — the most they’ve had in a game this year — and it came against a ranked defense that was giving up just 129.2 rushing yards a game coming into Saturday night.

It looked like Johns found a formation that worked against the Bearcats’ Iowa State-inspired front. OSU would often have three receivers to one side and a tight end on the opposite side. Whatever that did, it opened up lanes to run.

Perhaps the most shining example of OSU’s offense looking better was the Cowboys’ first-down production.

Against Houston last week, the Cowboys had 57 yards on first downs with an average first-down gain of 3.2 yards.

Saturday, OSU had 207 yards on first down at 6.9 yards a play.

That allowed drives to sustain and felt less gimmicky than trick plays producing points. The Cowboys had four drives against the Bearcats that were five minutes or longer. Their longest drive last week was 3:48, and that was the garbage time drive that Noah Walters led.

It’s a one-game sample size, but the shuffling of play-callers feels like a good move.

10. It Was Another Great Crowd

A homecoming crowd at Oklahoma State is always going to be a good one, but I continue to be impressed with how much this fanbase supports a team going through the struggles the Cowboys are.

Not only were the shirts back off in Section 231, but a section of students wearing banana costumes also made its debut. By the end of the game, the bananas peeled themselves and went up and joined the shirtless festivities.

At one point, the bananas did a conga line through the student section.

What’s next? A section filled with Teletubbies? A full-on flash mob?

The crowd is keeping it fun, and hopefully one time before the season ends that crowd is treated to another win.

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