Work in Progress: Third-Down Success, Interior DL Shine at TU but Cowboy Defenders Know They Have Work to Do

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STILLWATER — Eric Morris was hired to rebuild Oklahoma State into a Big 12 title contender the same way the Pokes usually got there — with a high-scoring offense.

That clearly didn’t happen in the opener, but the Cowboys’ defense looked more than competent for most of the loss against Tulsa.

In fact, the defense ranks seventh in the nation on third down after holding TU to 1-of-11.

“If we’re able to dominate on third down, we should be able to dominate on second down and fourth down,” nickel Christian Bodnar said. “… If we can have like a same mindset that we have on third down that they’re not going to get to the sticks, then if we do that every down, I mean, it will be a hard defense to stop.”

Both Bodnar and linebacker Tate Romney said they take a lot of confidence from OSU’s performance on third down even if they were disappointed with some of the other plays on Saturday.

When asked what was different in those moments, Romney made it sound simple.

“I mean, it’s just doing your job,” he said. “You know, when everybody on defense does their job, good things happen.”

Although much better than the Cowboys, No. 6 Oregon’s offense struggled on third down as well, converting only 33% of the time, which currently ranks 96th in the nation.

“We were very great on third down,” Bodnar said. “It was just a lot of plays where we just didn’t align right, or maybe just didn’t do our job. As maybe one person didn’t do the job, and it can create explosive play just by one person not being in the right spot. So I think we showed that we can be a great defense, but we just had to have competitive stamina to do it for a full game.”

Those explosive plays proved to be the defense’s undoing on Saturday as Tulsa picked up 58% of its offensive yards on seven plays of at least 15 yards or more. That doesn’t bode well considering the Ducks rank 29th in the country in yards per play (7.89) despite their struggles on third down.

In fairness to Oklahoma State, 47 of those yards almost went away when cornerback LaDainian Fields came what felt like centimeters away from an interception on a nearly simultaneous catch that went Tulsa’s way when he hit the ground first.

“Best thing I can say is you got to have strong hands,” Bodnar said of the near pick. “Especially since he was, you know, in front. … It was just a great play by both.”

That set Tulsa up for seven points. In fact, all four of TU’s scoring drives included at least one big play. It would be the understatement of the year to say those kinds of plays were an issue for Oklahoma State last year against the Ducks.

It’s possible this group is much more well-equipped to hang with the Ducks on the ground, at least. One of the only things Morris chose to praise during his press conference on Tuesday was the defensive front.

“A really bright spot for us was I thought our interior D line played good,” he said. “I thought they were physical and rolled in and out of there. I really liked what they were able to put on tape.”

The offensive-minded coach often praised OSU’s defensive ends as the deepest position on the team. That depth struggled to live up to those compliments for most of Saturday as only Jaleel Johnson and James Williams recorded a single pressure in the loss.

When asked what the defense did well last week, Romney echoed his head coach when it came to the defensive line.

“I think our defensive line played really well,” he said. “I think they did a great job stopping the run, especially interior run. I think we did a really good job handling the interior run. Obviously, they had some perimeter runs late in the game that broke through, but I think that was really the main thing we did well. I think we did good playing together as a unit, pretty good too.”

Romney and fellow linebacker Ethan Wesloski finished tied for the team lead in tackles with seven each. Wesloski finished as the team’s second-highest graded defender (69.1 on PFF) behind only Williams (70.5).

Wesloski paced the team with five stops, defined by PFF as tackles that constitute offensive failures. That puts OSU’s defensive leader in a tie for 23rd in stops per game nationally.

“Everything works together,” Morris said. “I think when your interior D-line sticks out, your linebackers usually are getting off, and they’re making plays. … But Ethan played well. He was fast, he saw it. He ran the alley, made some great plays in space.”