‘From the Bottom’: How LaDainian Fields Highlighted OSU Defense’s Second-Half Turnaround

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STILLWATER — Cornerback LaDainian Fields walked into the media room with a message literally written all over his face.

“It’s from the bottom,” Fields said, repeating the message in his eye black. “Really, it’s just because I started, I didn’t start as the biggest recruit, you know. So it be staying, just keeping that quote with me, just having that in the back of my head, like ‘from the bottom.’ You just gotta just stay with yourself and just believe in yourself.”

Fields, a former three-star prospect ranked outside the top 100 at his position by every major ranking site, was arguably the biggest hero on the defensive side of the ball as he finished tied with a team-high eight tackles, including 1.5 for loss to go with two second-half interceptions in Oklahoma State’s 57-24 rout of Colorado on Saturday.

“I thought they came out and played phenomenal in the second half,” coach Eric Morris said. “(Cornerback) Mo (Horn) had some really big breakups, and LaDainian with the two interceptions — really timely interceptions — to allow us to keep that momentum that we talked about earlier. Without grading it and seeing it and doing it, I thought that they were phenomenal in the second half.”

When discussing that duo, Morris added that the first half performance wasn’t good enough, but that could probably apply to the entire Cowboy defense as Oklahoma State looked incapable of stopping Colorado on third down after allowing the Buffs to move the chains 4-of-5 times, with the only “stop” going down as a 12-yard completion on 3rd-and-13 which led to a subsequent conversion by Colorado on 4th-and-1.

Then, all of a sudden, everything went Oklahoma State’s way, starting with a fumble on 3rd-and-1 at the OSU 21-yard line. The Buffs recovered, but had to settle for a field goal.

Just like that, the Cowboys won six straight third downs, holding Colorado to 5-of-13 overall.

“I thought it was a lackluster performance in the first half as far as defending the pass,” Morris said. “We challenged them. We came out and had a couple of interceptions. We should have had more. We dropped two more interceptions. I’m proud of them. I’m excited. It’s something for us to continue to build on.”

The struggles on third down allowed Colorado to score three touchdowns and one field goal on five offensive drives in the first half. Given OSU’s inability to get off the field when going against Houston last week, it suddenly felt like the Cowboys’ identity might become that of a team that just can’t make the play on the most important down in football.

But that’s not how it felt on the OSU sidelines. Rewatching the plays on iPads, multiple OSU defenders felt they were consistently close.

“First half, lack of execution on just like third down whenever we had opportunities to make plays,” Lawson said. “We sent a blitz, coulda had a sack, and we missed it, and then just second half we just executed at high level so that was the difference.”

The play Lawson spoke of was a 3rd-and-10 that turned into a 13-yard scramble after Colorado quarterback Isaac Wilson evaded multiple Cowboy defenders who threatened to bring him down for a loss.

As has been the case for most of the season, defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity and his assistants didn’t have grand changes in place for the second half. Instead, they focused a lot on one simple message.

“Go make your layup, you got an easy play to make, go make it,” Lawson said.

It’s possible Fields heard that message a little clearer than most as he assisted on a tackle-for-loss on 3rd-and-4 before recording one of his interceptions on the next third-down attempt to all but seal the win.

“I think the first half we was just really just playing timid, you know, not playing as one,” Fields said. “So coming into the second half, we know we had to play as one and trust each other. Really, everybody doing their own jobs.”

Both Morris, who very publicly critiqued the Cowboy secondary following the loss at Houston, and Fields acknowledged that the secondary heard plenty of “noise” this week from outside the program.

“It meant a lot, you know, coming from last week,” Fields said of the second-half shutout. “Everybody was talking about our secondary, our defense. We really just wanted to show everybody what we can really do as we play as one.”

Morris said one of the biggest changes the Cowboys made in the second half was playing tighter coverage and trusting the corners more.

According to PFF data, which was still under review at the time of writing, Horn and Fields played 59 and 58 snaps, respectively, out of a possible 65, which marked the first time either guy played more than 87% of snaps. This also marked their first start together since the win over West Virginia.

“Just makes you more comfortable, and just gives you more confidence in yourself,” Fields said of getting to play the entire game.

When asked about his eye black, Fields, a guy who spent most of his first 1.5 seasons firmly on the bench, made it clear he’s not arrived yet and he has no specific goals this season outside of “reaching the top” with his teammates.

“I feel like I haven’t proved anything for real,” Fields said. “I feel like I still have a lot to go. Still have a lot to prove on. Got next week. Iowa State, it’s time to go out there and just go play ball.”