Daily Bullets (August 6)

Tough as Stone(r)

It’s becoming an annual ritual to get excited about young receiver Dillon Stoner. Well, it’s August. Shall we?

Being out of competition did allow Stoner to focus on his body. He weighed in this week at 199 pounds, up from 180 when he arrived at OSU.

The added muscle should help Stoner deal with defenders across the middle from his position at inside receiver.

And he did not appear to lose much of his speed or stamina.

“He’ll be every bit as fast in the fourth quarter as the first,” (receivers coach Kasey) Dunn said. “His stamina is unbelievable. Unbelievable. Crazy. No hyperbole. I’m telling you. It’s freaky.” [TulsaWorld]

Stamina, increased size and the maturity and focus worth trusting as a freshman. The future is bright for the wide receiver room.

Offensive Context

SB Nation wrote a fantastic piece detailing the world-class Cowboy offense – and the historical context is pretty telling.

The OSU offense occasionally falls apart and has to get put back together. In 2009, after two seasons in the Off. S&P+ top five, the Pokes fell to 48th. And after ranking fifth, first, eighth, and 20th from 2010-13, they plummeted to 78th in 2014.

In 2015, Rudolph took over, and the passing game flourished. OSU ranked 18th in Passing S&P+ but was held back by a miserable run game (114th in Rushing S&P+). Midway through 2016, the run game found its place again.

It took a little while. Rennie Childs struggled all year, and Carson missed a few games early in the season. But Carson and Hill formed quite the thunder-and-lightning pair late, and after a couple of shaky seasons, the OSU line began to look like the line of the early 2010s. [SB Nation]

Gundy’s went through numerous offensive coordinators and countless position coaches but an absolutely purring offense is relatively inescapable.

OSU and NCAA Notes

Aaron Cochran sounds to be adjusting pretty well to OSU….Unfortunate news that a Sooner receiver went down for the season (so did a backup o-lineman)….See the ten most expensive CFB games in 2017 are….Check out UNC’s new Jordan football uni’s

No decisions yet.

Gundy said they have not seen enough to make a choice on a No. 2 running back. #okstate

— Mark Cooper (@mark_cooperjr) August 5, 2017

What a guy.

Amazing. pic.twitter.com/gz3yA2vzsM

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) August 5, 2017

The boys in Stillwater seem pretty uptight about the season.

https://twitter.com/BradLundblade/status/894006964589662208

They also like their quarterback! pic.twitter.com/pVJXRKnQSP

— Robert Allen (@RAllenGoPokes) August 5, 2017

What You Missed on PFB

• Get the notes from Gundy’s media day presser
• PFB talked with a couple of key defenders for the Cowboys
• Take a look at OSU’s best shot at landing College Gameday
• Cox ranks his top five uni combos
• Get to another good guy at PFB: Kyle Cox