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Drive Charts: Despite Strong Start, Pokes Offense Faded in the Second Half

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After scoring points on six of its eight first-half drives, Oklahoma State followed it up going 2-for-7 in the final two quarters.

OSU didn’t score in the third quarter of its 62-52 Bedlam loss on Saturday, which made the difference, though critics will point at Mason Rudolph’s overthrow of Tyron Johnson on the Cowboys last meaningful play.

Let’s look at the drive charts.

OSU Drive Chart

I hate to say it, but that second half was so Bedlam.

When Rudolph fumbled on the Cowboys’ second drive of the second half, the momentum was officially shot. The interception in the end zone seemed like a dagger, but with back-to-back touchdowns and the OSU defense coming to life a little bit, there was hope that maybe it wasn’t.

That overthrow will forever go down against Rudolph when we talk about legacy at OSU. Yes, he beat OU as a freshman, but you almost forget about that because of the next three games. The cards were lined up in the Cowboys’ favor, but his offense finished the game with three turnovers and one on downs in six drives.

OSU’s Pertinent Stats
  • Points per drive (offense): 3.47
  • Points per drive (defense): 4.13
  • Yards per play: 7.5 (5.6 in the fourth quarter)
  • Third-down conversions: 7/16 (44 percent)
  • Average starting field position: own 28-yard line
  • Red-zone scoring: 5/6
  • Points off turnovers: 3
  • Time of possession: 24:19

The points off turnovers did it.

OU wasn’t particularly great in that department either, grabbing 10 the other way, but the Cowboys were probably robbed of matching it.

 

Still, it’s pretty demoralizing for a defense to see its offense put up more than half a hundred and still walk out of the home stadium with a Bedlam loss. It was the first time that has ever happened to OSU.

OU Drive Chart

OU drives

Baker leads the most efficient offense in college football, and on one of the grandest stages, he showed why. OU came away with points on 10-of-15 drives against a top 15 team on the road in a rivalry game. That’s just never gonna do it for a defense.

Mayfield threw a nasty interception in the end zone to Chad Whitener in the fourth quarter with three minutes to go. If he didn’t, the game would have been over right then. Credit to the OSU defense there for continuing to press the issue, but not too much after giving up 35 points in a little more than a quarter of football. As cliché as it was to say, Mike Gundy was right postgame. The Sooners just made a few more plays late in the game. OU wasn’t great late, but the Cowboys were worse.

OU’s Pertinent Stats
  • Points per drive (offense): 4.13
  • Points per drive (defense): 3.47
  • Yards per play: 10.3 (12.2 in the fourth quarter)
  • Third-down conversions: 7/13 (54 percent)
  • Average starting field position: own 26-yard line
  • Red-zone scoring: 5/6
  • Points off turnovers: 10
  • Time of possession: 35:41

 

The yards per play difference in the fourth quarter is as bad of a number as possible for Oklahoma State — 12.2 to 5.6. Every time the Sooners snapped it, on average, they got a first down and then some. It’s unfair to pin all of this on the OSU offense for that reason, even though 2/7 on second half drives including 0/4 on drives to take the lead is not going to get it done.

Still, Rudolph and Co. had to nearly flawless throughout the entire game (we can’t pretend like the first half didn’t happen), and just because they weren’t doesn’t mean they played poorly. In fact, I think some people would say Rudolph had one of the better performances, at least statistically, of his Cowboy career. It was just unfortunate for him that his miscues came on the final few drives.

Because, I mean, look at this.

 

That was in the fourth quarter of a 10-point game.

“The quality of play at the quarterback position in this game was, to me, rivaled the Texas Tech game that we had last year,” said Lincoln Riley. “I mean you’re talking about two guys at the absolute top of their game. Those guys put on a show and it was just kind of a game of will.”

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