‘They Took It Personal’: How Oklahoma State’s Offensive Line Bounced Back Against Oregon Front Destined for NFL

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STILLWATER — The biggest question mark from the now even more head-scratching loss at Tulsa was the offensive line.

“I think they took it personal the whole entire week,” coach Eric Morris said Tuesday. “You know, I think that they were embarrassed by what we put on film the first game, and they went out with an attitude and an edge about themselves to prove themselves right.”

The Cowboys averaged 1.5 yards more per carry against the Ducks than they did at TU in the opener. Of course, quarterback Drew Mestemaker’s 75-yard run skews the data a bit, but even if you factor that play and the kneels at the end of the game out, the Cowboys still improved the ground game by more than a yard per carry.

Starting back Caleb Hawkins’ average improved from 4.4 yards per rush to 4.8 despite seeing five additional carries against Oregon.

“They were amazing,” Hawkins said of the OL on Saturday. “I already knew from the jump Monday. They came in ready to play. They told me that it is never going to be like that again and they are going to get it done this week and I had full confidence in everything they told me.”

When asked to preview the Ducks a week ago, Morris spent a lot of time talking up the Oregon defensive ends. According to PFF records, Mestemaker was pressured 15 times on Saturday, which was actually two fewer times than he was pressured at Tulsa despite having seven more dropbacks in the loss.

“I mean that whole defensive line is going to play on Sunday, there is no doubt about it,” Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Sean Brophy said. “I think that just the cohesiveness, the gelling, the subtle tweaks from a technique and schematic standpoint throughout the course of the week, couldn’t have shown up bigger than it did on Saturday.

“And then at the end of the day too, it comes down to winning your one-on-one matchup. So for those guys to go out there and stalemate that defensive line the way that they did for four quarters, and you kind of always just wondered when they were going to let those guys go. But you just realized, going back and watching the tape, man, we shut them down and did a great job up front at every level. So kudos to (center) Tyler Mercer getting it pointed out and getting it lined up and then our tackles doing a great job and so top-notch from everybody across the board.”

On rewatch, the offensive line looked improved against the Ducks. Those improvements aren’t reflected in the PFF pass-blocking grades, but the six linemen who played significant snaps combined to give up 13 pressures after allowing 12 in the opener.

Given the jump in competition, that certainly sounds like progress. Morris hopes the line can gain confidence from what they put on film against the Ducks.

“Across the board, we communicated so much better, our eyes were so much better, our technique was so much better, and the result ended up being so much better,” Morris said. “So I think anytime, too, against Oregon, where we’re able to run the ball effectively early in the football game, you know it really starts opening up so many different things that we can do. It opened up the play action. You know, I thought Drew was really good early in quick game, and we were really efficient in getting the quick game out and getting drives started.”

All of that happened despite the fact that OSU once again lost a starting lineman and had to shuffle the line. This time, right guard Joseph Hanson, arguably the team’s best remaining lineman, was only available for 31-of-87 snaps. This forced starting left guard Johnny Dickson to replace him while Desmond Magiya came off the bench at left guard.

Morris didn’t provide a clear update on Hanson, though he did mention the health and availability of several other guys unprompted on Tuesday. So it is possible that means Hanson’s injury wasn’t serious enough to be on the head coach’s radar.

Regardless of who suits up this weekend, it’s clear Oklahoma State’s coaches feel better about the offensive line heading into the team’s final non-conference game on Saturday against Murray State at 6 p.m.

“Not a first (game), and I think everything just felt like it slowed down for us,” Brophy said. “And communication was absolutely better, and then beyond the communication, the finish factor in the fourth quarter, all those different things. Everything about it was not even remotely close to what it was against Tulsa.”