Boise State Debriefing: Nagging Questions Answered During OSU’s Big Win

The Cowboys not only earned a signature win against a top 20 team on Saturday, they did so in convincing fashion. We learned a lot from the Cowboys’ dismantling of Boise State, so let’s debrief.

The Short Story

Oklahoma State’s defense was almost dominant, its offense was good enough and special teams went from a disdained afterthought to Monday’s featured water-cooler topic.

OSU out-athleted, out-played and out-schemed the No. 17 team in the country and made it look relatively easy. It’s not hyperbolic to say that what played out on Saturday completely changes the outlook for the Pokes’ season moving forward.

Who Earned a Marshal Badge

Offense: Taylor Cornelius, AKA Corn Dog, AKA the Oil Baron, AKA The Kernel

It wasn’t always pretty and it came with a couple of those obligatory air-mailed deep balls that we’ve come to expect over the last three weeks, but Taylor Cornelius did everything he needed to secure a Cowboy win.

He was OSU’s ground game for large portions of the contest and he hung in there and took the hits that make Mike Gundy shake his head. He’s proven to be tough as hell, and for better or worse, that just reinforces his head coach’s confidence in him.

In the offseason, I predicted the Kernel would command this offense on a season-long campaign. I’ve had my doubts since. But in a big-time game as a home underdog and with all eyes on him — and with a fanbase grumbling — Cornelius stood in the pocket (or didn’t) and took the hits. It’s unlikely that he goes down as one of OSU’s best QBs of all time, but W by W, he’s building a case to be an all-time fan favorite.

Defense: Jordan Brailford

I actually had a little pause on this one. Maybe I thought the preseason all-conference selection was too on-the-nose with his three credited sacks, his 3.5 tackles for loss and his two forced fumbles (all were career highs). Maybe my unabashed Calvin Bundage fandom was clouding my judgment. If only he didn’t average three neutral-zone infractions a half.

I simply couldn’t give out a sticker to anyone else on defense because every time I looked up, there was Brailford in the corner of Brett Rypien’s eye. I’m still convinced that he was hiding in the backfield pre-snap on some of those plays like on that fake kick return play that TCU can’t seem to get right.

Questions for Week 4

Several of the questions we had for Week 3 were at least momentarily answered on Saturday. Can OSU improve in special teams? That’s a big yes, but the uptick was largely due to two blocked punts that were the result of slow-developing kicks by Boise. Even so, blocks aren’t exactly sustainable or predictable.

Is this defense legit? It definitely seems to be after relegating a dynamic and dangerous Boise State offense to a one-trick pony — while even making that trick exceedingly difficult.

But those same questions will need to be answered as Big 12 play commences. Can Cornelius continue to improve? Can Brailford and Bundage be just as disruptive against Texas Tech’s offense? Can we make it through a week without one head-scratching punt or return play?

Play of the Game

There were several nominees but I just couldn’t bring myself to pick anything over this monster run by Justice. Even if the original score was called back and 20ish yards were shaved off because he stepped on the line. That stiff arm alone is worth 6 points.