OSU’s Defense Is Doing Something Better Than Anyone Else Under Skyler Cassity

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STILLWATER — Last week, Oklahoma State ranked 10th in the country on third-down defense after holding Oregon to 5-of-14.

When asked about that, defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity only saw one thing.

“There’s always room for improvement, right?” Cassity said. “There’s a couple we would like to have back that we thought we could get off the field, and we’re in advantageous situations for us defensively.”

It’s going to be tough for Cassity to keep saying that because this week, the Cowboys rank No. 1 in the country in third-down defense, allowing a first down only 16% of the time.

“That is something we take pride in,” safety Mose Phillips said. “We feel like it should be that way, how we practice and how we prepare.

“I feel like when you play in Cassity’s defense, you learn how important situational football is and knowing the stakes and knowing what calls to make with certain situations, so I think that is huge for us and we’re going to try to keep that going for sure.”

OSU’s third-down defense is currently in a tie with Penn State, while SMU (18%) is the only other team below fourth-place Oregon (22%).

The Nittany Lions have yet to play a power conference team, while SMU has faced two (Louisville and Florida State).

This is a huge improvement from the last three seasons when Oklahoma State ranked 113th (2025), 119th (2024) and 99th (2023). The Cowboys have three top-five finishes in the stat, claiming the top spot in 2010 and finishing third and fourth in 2022 and 2021, respectively.

This week, the Cowboys face another stiff test as West Virginia’s offense ranks 15th nationally in third-down conversions, moving the chains 53% of the time.

Not that OSU hasn’t faced similarly talented offenses already. Oregon’s third-down offense ranked 26th with a 50% success rate. If you remove their game in Stillwater, the Ducks rank ninth, converting 58% of the time.

Tulsa’s offense isn’t great on third down, but is moving the chains 30% of the time against everyone else this season. Oklahoma State held TU to 1-of-11 (9%).

Comparing Murray State might be a bit unfair, but the Racers ranked 67th in the FCS with a third-down success rate of 36%. The Cowboys held them 0-of-12 on Saturday.

“I think it is all about having your mind on the right stuff,” Phillips said. “I think you can get lost in the flow of the game, but we got a lot of veteran guys who are able to be comfortable on the field. So when you’re comfortable on the field, played a lot of ball, you less are thinking about the offense and moreso you can think about the situation and eliminate certain stuff.

“And I think that is what we’ve been great at. Is like with our vets talking, ‘OK, they need 4, they need 4 right here,’ let’s make this certain call so we can be on our Ps and Qs, so I think that has been big with us having an older group who played a lot of ball.”

ESPN’s efficiency ratings score offenses and defenses ability to impact the scoring margin of the game on a per-play basis, factoring in quality of opponent. The Cowboys defense ranks 21st overall and fifth in the Big 12.

Oregon’s offense ranks 44th and Tulsa’s ranks 74th, so nothing to sneeze at.

From a pure numbers standpoint, Oklahoma State’s defense also ranks third in the red zone and 34th on fourth down, which translates into a 26th ranking in yards allowed (267 on average) and 48th in scoring defense (18.3 points).

Several Cowboy defenders this season said those high-leverage moments in games aren’t being handled differently schematically, but the focus on those plays might be better.

“I don’t know if anything necessarily changes,” linebacker Isaiah Chisom said. “I just think we understand the level of execution has to go up in those type of situations.”