OSU Defense Performed Well After Clint Bowen’s First Bye Week

STILLWATER — Considering how lopsided most of the Cowboys’ games have been, there haven’t been a ton of what-if moments haunting the team this fall.

After Saturday’s inspired defensive performance that saw the Cowboys hold Kansas State to a season-worst 14 points (16 points under their season average), it might be time to wonder what if interim defensive coordinator Clint Bowen got a bye week earlier in the season.

“We have been, unfortunately, in the middle of the season, actually installing and changing the defensive scheme,” Bowen said. “And you shouldn’t be doing that. Once you hit the season, it should be all about what they do, what they do, what they do and we haven’t (been able to do that). …

“And so the bye week, I wish it would have been a little bit earlier, but it definitely was a chance for us to get a true scouting report on a team and get that in the kids’ head. We spent the entire week not having to talk about one thing about our defense, and just talking about the opponent. And that’s something that, unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do. That is pretty much the custom and anywhere I’ve ever been.”

Bowen replaced former defensive coordinator Todd Grantham within 24 hours of the Cowboys’ 45-27 loss to Baylor on Sept. 27. At the time, Bowen was a quality control assistant for the offense.

Meaning he had less than six days to prepare a group of players he knew in a much more passive way for their next game at Arizona.

“Honestly, five weeks ago, full disclosure, there’s defensive players, I didn’t know their names,” Bowen said. “You know, we’re at the Arizona Game, and I’m like, hey, all right, number, whatever, you call the kids by their jersey number because honestly don’t know their names.”

That’s not exactly a winning recipe.

The change in coordinators sparked some improvement, but none of it was enough to put the Cowboys in a really competitive fourth quarter. The closest OSU got was trailing Cincinnati and Kansas by 10 and 11 points, respectively, entering the final period, where both of those teams scored in the opening minutes to expand their leads even further.

“I say all the time, ‘the game doesn’t start till the fourth quarter, and you guys are missing the enjoyment of what this game truly brings,’” Bowen said. “And when it’s a fourth quarter, everybody’s tired. They know what you’re doing by that time. We know what they’re doing by that time, and it’s just who’s willing to really fight at the end of the game.”

No one can say the Cowboy defense didn’t fight to the bitter end on Saturday. Kansas State needed a 4th-and-six and a 4th-and-1 conversion to score their final touchdown of the game with 12:31 to play. The next time the Wildcats got the ball, OSU’s defense held strong and got the offense the ball back with 4:05 left to attempt to tie the game up.

Bowen attributed a lot of Saturday’s success to improved tackling.

“Today was the first day that I’ve been part of the defense that I felt like we actually tackled people. … Tackles show how tough we are and how much we ‘want to,’” Bowen said. “And so I felt like today was the first day we had our knees over our toes. We drove through some contact and actually put people to the ground instead of holding on and getting drug all over the field.”

That showed in the box score in more ways than one. OSU held Kansas State 78 yards under its season average and nearly one full yard less per play than average.

For context on just how good this showing was, this was the first time in the six games under Bowen that OSU held an opponent under their scoring average (based on current numbers entering this week). In four of those contests, opponents beat their scoring average by more than a touchdown. This was also the second time OSU held an opponent more than .2 yards under their season average. The only other time came at Texas Tech when the Red Raiders probably lacked motivation to really do much in the second half, other than run clock.

It’s impossible to know what would have been different if Bowen could have installed this defense during a bye week earlier in the season, or perhaps even during the offseason like every other team, but it seems likely the Cowboys play much closer to how they finished Saturday than how they looked for almost the last two months.

Perhaps this will get answered in the weeks to come if OSU’s defense continues to improve. For what it’s worth, UCF and Iowa State average 27 points per game, putting them as the worst scoring offenses OSU will face since Bowen took over.

Based on how Cowboy defenders carried themselves to the final minutes, this group doesn’t look ready to quit.

“You can see it in their eyes,” interim coach Doug Meacham said of the defense. “They want it bad, and they fight their butts off. You just hope what we have left in the season we get one.”