After Incredible Back-to-Back Performances, OSU’s Defense Showing it is Good Enough to Win the Big 12

Oklahoma State’s defense rode into Morgantown on some serious momentum and the laud of people like me. I hypothesized that Glenn Spencer’s group might be a top 3 defense in the Big 12. Now I think it might be a top defense since Spencer took over DC duties in 2013.

If you were to look at today’s box score, you might scoff at 87 total points scored in the rain. But the Cowboy defense gave up only 25 to one of the most prolific offenses in the country, and seven of those were in garbage time.

“If we hadn’t made as many mistakes as we did offensively, we would be sitting here talking about how great the defense played…,” said Mike Gundy. “For the most part, our defense has had back-to-back weeks were they’ve been very successful.”

With the Mountaineers scoring late in the second quarter and carrying some momentum into halftime, OSU’s defense faced a tough challenge heading out of the tunnel. But it stood strong with four-straight three-and-outs to start the third quarter.

The wheels almost fell off for Oklahoma State in the third. A forfeited punt for six in its own end zone, a missed field goal and a pick-six could have should have bit the Cowboys. West Virginia was able to crawl right back into the game with a 14-0 run all while OSU’s defense remained sidelined.

As Kyle Porter wrote earlier, seasons get derailed in the third quarter and conference championships are lost, but Glenn Spencer’s crew owned that period today, even if OSU’s offense and special teams stunk. It allowed 37 yards on 1.9 yards per play, and West Virginia was 0 for 4 on third downs and committed two turnovers.

For the game, Oklahoma State forced five turnovers, the most its forced against a Power 5 team since Kansas State in 2013. Heading into Saturday, Will Grier had five interceptions through seven games, and he threw four to OSU.

Those turnovers were a huge deal all game and an emphasis for Spencer and his squad heading into the ranked-on-ranked matchup.

“Last night we were talking as a group about the last couple weeks,” Spencer told reporters. “We’ve gotten one, but we talked. I made them talk, ‘Why do you get turnovers? How do you get turnovers?’ We discussed it. It was a good discussion. I said ‘We need four’ and they got five.”

“I was really proud of our ability to go up with two hands and make plays and intercept passes,” said Gundy. “That one interception that four (A.J. Green) had was fantastic. It was a big time play.”

Third-down defense, a weakness most pointed to a month ago, has turned into an apparent strength. Texas was the 12th-ranked third-down offense in the country (48.1 percent) before it was held to 3 of 17 at home by the Cowboys. West Virginia was not quite so touted, converting at a 38.9-percent rate but has enough playmakers that it hasn’t mattered much to this point. OSU held them to 2 of 15.

Spencer’s group dominated a really good offense and it did it with scheme and execution, and by just being better.

When was the last time we made statements like that?

“I can’t say enough about the defense and their ability to make plays,” said Mike Gundy. “We gave up 60 yards rushing on 30 carries, two yards per carry, so that’s what kept us in the game and gave us a chance. (We) made them one-dimensional and we were able to defend the pass decently at times.”

The most important thing to glean from these last two ugly showings for OSU is that this defense is good enough to hold the Cowboys over if the offense isn’t quite firing on all cylinders or if special teams looks lost. That’s a different post.

Turnovers can be fluky, special teams matter. But Oklahoma State probably has the best defense of any team it faces the rest of the way save for Iowa State. And you know what they say about defenses and championships.