Eric Morris Is Chasing Wins, Not Stats (But Stats Are Still Aplenty)

Support PFB with a PFB+ membership — $8 a month or $50 for a year.

STILLWATER — Eric Morris-led offenses have had no issues putting up stats, but he said Tuesday that he’s learned not to chase them.

Morris will make his Oklahoma State debut at 2:45 p.m. Saturday when the Cowboys open their season in Tulsa against the Golden Hurricane.

It’s expected to be a scorcher in T-Town, with the high for Saturday being 98 degrees with about 40% humidity at kick. It’s expected to be so hot that on Wednesday, Tulsa shared that the Reynolds Center will be open as a cool-down area for fans and water and misters will be available.

On Tuesday, Morris, also OSU’s offensive play-caller, was asked whether the heat will determine just how fast the Cowboys’ offense goes.

“I’m a feel play caller,” Morris said. “I think as I’ve gotten into it and learned it and finding a groove within it, it’s something that – and I do believe that, especially in this game with the conditions – I need to be really smart and calculated and understand, ‘Hey, there’s going to be times when you need to slow it down a little bit and be able to run the football, and our defense needs a break at some point.’

“And I’ve learned that the hard way. Like, I’ve lost games because I was selfish and I wanted to go put up points or stats or throw this or that. I don’t even look at stats after games anymore. We’ll come back at the end of it on Sunday, and we’ll go over a game review where you do. But I remember being a young coach and walking into the locker room always and being fixated on stats and how many passes. I don’t care about that. Naturally, we want to take what the defense gives us, but I have to do a good job managing this game on what we can handle, what we’re doing successfully and how this whole thing fits together with all three sides of the ball.”

Morris didn’t say when that fixation with stats left him, but even without obsessing over the numbers, he seems to not have too tough a time putting them up.

Last season, Morris’ UNT offense ranked first nationally in yards per game with 512.4. That’s 22.7 yards more than second-place Ole Miss. That same 22.7-yard gap would cover from Ole Miss down to Florida State in sixth (472.1).

The Mean Green also ranked first nationally in points per game with 45.1 — 3.1 more points than second-place Notre Dame, a gap that would cover from the Fighting Irish down to seventh-place Texas Tech.

For reference, OSU fans, the Cowboys ranked 130th nationally in total offense (292.4) and 134th nationally in points per game (14.2). Change is (hopefully) coming.

That Morris quote lines up with something Morris said at OSU’s Media Day last month when he noted that he wasn’t always as pro-run game as he is now. After doing a study on teams that were winning big, Morris came to the conclusion that he needed to look past some of his Mike Leach principles and establish a more potent ground attack.

“I think I was tired of at Texas Tech multiple times being the No. 1 offense in the nation and not having any championships that come along with it,” Morris said. “So, I did a big study that year, and really, I studied. … When I went back and studied, we were running the ball for about 60 to 70 yards a game, and the people that were in the championships were rushing for about 150 to 175 yards a game, and that was a huge factor, kind of consistently with conference champions at different levels and with the national champions.”

Earlier returns suggest the Cowboys’ new coach is willing to learn some new tricks so long as those new tricks lead to a W.