Game Preview: Cowboy Offense Looking for Stride against Texas

The Big 12’s orange teams will clash on Halloween, and it should be a good one.

Oklahoma State hosts Texas this weekend. Here are the need-to-knows ahead of the Cowboys’ quest to make it to 5-0.

Viewing Info

Time: 3 p.m. Saturday
Location: Boone Pickens Stadium
TV: FOX (Joe Davis and Mark Helfrich)

Offensive Stats

Defensive Stats

Big 12 Standings

Cowboys Say Offense Is Getting Close

2020 has been an atypical year in nearly every facet of the world, and the Cowboys’ offense hasn’t escaped that.

The 28.5 points Oklahoma State has scored per game this season is the lower than all but two seasons of Mike Gundy’s tenure. The lowest season was 2005, Gundy’s first year, where OSU averaged 20.2 points per game and finished 4-7. The other was 2014, when OSU averaged 27.6 points per game and finished 7-6.

But what this 2020 team is doing that those others didn’t is winning. The Cowboys are 4-0 despite that stat.

“We got good skill players,” Gundy said Monday. “We’re coming along a little bit as an offensive line. We’ve made some strides. We have to be protective, somewhat, of what we do offensively. We’re not in a position to be like we have been in the last 10 or 12 years here where we can just open everything up and Katy bar the door. As we develop as an offensive line, we’ll get a little bit better as an offense throughout the season.

“We’re not far along right now on the offensive line. We’ve got two guys playing the offensive line that have three games of experience in their career. For that reason, 40 percent of your offensive line doesn’t have any experience. We just have to be a little careful.”

Injuries make up a large portion to the disruptions the Pokes’ offense has faced. Quarterback Spencer Sanders just returned last week after missing all but two series of OSU’s first three games.

The Pokes also lost starting offensive linemen Cole Birmingham and Hunter Anthony during the Tulsa game.

Redshirt senior receiver Dillon Stoner has been a part of some of the most prolific offenses in the program’s history. He was on the 2017 squad that averaged an OSU record 568.9 yards a game. Stoner doesn’t seem too concerned with the offenses relatively slow start in 2020.

“I think we’re close,” Stoner said. “We’ve made progress each and every week. I think we’re getting closer to being there every week. We don’t depend on one aspect of our offense. We have weapons all across the board. We’re still learning; we’re still growing. We’ll continue to get better each week.”

Whether good or bad, Sanders will be the poster boy for OSU’s offensive production. He was solid in his return Saturday, throwing for 235 yards and a score while running for another 71 yards and a touchdown.

However, he did throw two interceptions to Iowa State. Sanders didn’t shy away from the fact that him picking up his play could be the difference in this being a Big 12-contending offense or a Big 12-winning offense.

“I feel like you can always get better at something, so you’re never close to where you want to be,” Sanders said. “It’s more about, are we executing? Are we doing things right?

“I feel like we’re executing great. The tempo of our offense is moving great. I think we’re back up to the tempo that we need to be moving at. I love how we’re moving fast, and I love how we’re playing right now. I feel like we’re playing good, and as soon as I pick up my mistakes, we can be moving excellent.”