Game 4 Grades: Cowboys’ Performance Against Tech Rough on the GPA

Last week, I started my grades with “You’re only as good as your latest performance, so as of now, Oklahoma State is pretty good.” Well, if this latest performance says anything, OSU has a lot of work do to. Here are my grades from the Cowboys’ 41-17 loss to Texas Tech.

Taylor Cornelius: D

This game was not a good look for Taylor Cornelius.

Against a historical laughing stock of a defense, Cornelius completed only 47 percent of his passes, threw only one touchdown and one interception. There aren’t many times a team is going to be able to score 17 points against Tech and win.

Cornelius missed throws we’ve grown accustomed to him missing, and he seemed like a different player from the No. 14 who picked apart Boise State.

Offensive Line: D

Mike Gundy said to not pin it all on Cornelius, so the offensive line will share his grade.

Cornelius was sacked twice and hurried five times. There were a handful of snaps that were unsalvageable and instantly broke the ensuing play.

Ball carriers not named Justice Hill averaged 1.9 yards a carry.

Special Teams: C-

Hey, OSU isn’t good on special teams again.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first with the muffed punt and the missed field goal. Then there was the fair catch calls on returnable kickoffs when Chuba Hubbard, the fastest player on the field, was receiving the ball. Then he decided to return two kicks and got only 13 yards and 15 yards on them.

Something that really puzzled me was that OSU didn’t try to block Tech’s first punt of the game. The Cowboys blocked two last week, and you have to know that punter is thinking about it on his strut out to the field. Why not try to force him into a mistake at least?

The saving grace for the special teams is the work Jake McClure did on kickoffs, Ammendola’s one make and Zach Sinor’s 67-yard nuke.

Defense: C-

When playing against Texas Tech, one expects to give up some points, but Saturday, I was beginning to wonder if the Cowboys were capable of getting a meaningful stop.

Tech punted on its first possession, but that was somewhat self-inflicted after a offensive pass interference penalty. Tech would punt only one more time in the game. Jarrick Bernard and A.J. Green save the grade with interceptions, and the defensive front somewhat got back into the game late and ended with three sacks.

Apart from that, though, freshman quarterback Alan Bowman did whatever he wanted, completing 76 percent of his passes for nearly 400 yards. OSU also allowed Tech to run for 224 yards.

Tylan Wallace: B+

I’ll leave you with a bright spot. Tylan Wallace is a definite dude.

Wallace had 123 yards on seven receptions Saturday. It marks his third straight game of 100 or more receiving yards, and the only two other underclassmen to do that are James Washington and Justin Blackmon.

Wallace was a problem for his corner all night. The only issue was not many other Cowboys were causing problems.

He misses out on an A for his muffed punt.