Line Segment: Defensive Line Not Finishing Plays Leads to Mixed Results

Anyone who wasn’t locked in a closet knows that the Oklahoma State defense struggled to contain Oklahoma as it racked up 785 yards and 62 points on Saturday.

Although some of this was due to Oklahoma simply having an elite offense, including the potential Heisman winner and an offensive line filled with a few pros, the OSU defense was negligent in many cases.

A huge key coming into the game was making Baker Mayfield uncomfortable in the pocket and containing his ability to get out of the pocket and make unscheduled plays. This was really a back-an-forth discussion, as there were times where the OSU defense was able to provide consistent pressure (mainly in the third quarter). At other times OU’s big talented offense really controlled the line of scrimmage, allowing him plenty of time to shred the OSU secondary.

OU feasted on big plays, including two long 75-plus yard TD passes to Marquise Brown. Both plays included quick passes that prevented OSU from being able to provide pressure. It’s been well documented that both Tre Flowers and Rodarius Williams had rough games.

Oklahoma State did a decent job controlling the Oklahoma run game, allowing 187 yards on 40 rushes for a 4.7 yard/carry average. Oklahoma State also had a season-high five sacks, in addition to eight tackles for loss. All of these numbers are pretty good, ones that most Oklahoma State fans would take in a heartbeat if given a choice before the game.

One of the biggest factors to the lack of success from the Oklahoma State defense was simply finishing plays. They were in the right spot, had the right coverage called, and simply couldn’t make the play to contain the offense. Now I don’t want to take anything away from the Oklahoma offense, as some of this was related to them simply having really good players. We will get into this below, but it encompasses really the whole defense as part of the problem.

Individually, I thought the defensive tackles had a nice game, as they’ve been all year. DeQuinton Osborne finished with seven tackles, which is a monster number for a defensive tackle. Calvin Bundage is so disruptive and at times he was dominant finishing with two sacks. But also he was swallowed up in some instances by OU’s lineman as well. The same goes for Jordan Brailford, who finished with three tackles for loss and had a really nice game, but due to lack of size was contained well in some situations. Coming into this game I was concerned with OSU’s ability to create pressure off the edge given that Orlando Brown is one of the best left tackles in the game, and at times this was certainly the case. As I mentioned above, the entire defensive line had issues finishing plays after creating initial disruption off the snap.

Film Observations:

1. Right out of the gate, can’t finish plays. The disruption is there up front, both pulling lineman are taking on guys 2 to 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage. From an OSU perspective, you have everything you want here. EXCEPT being able to wrap him up for a 1 to 2-yard gain. That doesn’t happen and it turns into a 10-yard gain.

2. I’ve mentioned in my offensive line segments how the OSU line lacks a certain level of physicality. Even with a zone blocking scheme this is possible. Here is a great example. Watch how the right tackle just flattens Tralund Webber before coming back to his primary responsibility.  Even though this is a three-man rush, there is no threat here from a pass-rush perspective. This is how pass blocking versus a three-man rush should look like. Oklahoma showed an extra level of physicality up front with their offensive line that Oklahoma State simply doesn’t have.

3. Great penetration on this play, there were plenty of examples of this all game. For the most part, the interior Oklahoma State defensive line held up fine. Walterscheid with the nice QB hurry here, you can tell the defensive ends really keyed in on making plays when they were left as free rushers. This had to be an emphasis from the coaching staff, as Oklahoma pulls their guard/tackles frequently.

4. No better example of that than this play. OU pulls both tackle and guard here and Brailford makes them pay. This is really good defense, Brailford is so explosive.

5. Mayfield has all day to scan the field, although they go max protect here you have to find a way to get to the QB.

6. Can’t finish plays, it’s the story of the game. This should be a 5 to 6-yard sack, instead OU gets to live another down and it’s second and 10.  Great coverage downfield, great pressure up front, but it doesn’t turn into a great result.

7. Can’t finish plays (at this point I’m just copy/pasting it). This is incredible disruption up front. Bundage blows up the lead blocker, which impacts the flow of the play. Walterscheid beats his man and has Anderson for a 2-yard loss. He escapes and it goes from a loss to a 14-yard TD.

8. Can’t finish plays. Tons of action behind the line of scrimmage, this should’ve either been a sack or at worst a no gain. RB slips out and it’s a 9-yard gain.

9. Here is a good example of not being able to shed blocks. Mayfield has enough time for his WR to run a double move (very nice route by the way) against a safety in the slot. This is way too easy.

10. Glenn Spencer has done a really nice job disguising blitzes in the last 4 to 5 weeks with Calvin Bundage. This is a stunt that puts Orlando Brown in a very tough position, he is unable to get ahold of Bundage and he makes the play. The OSU defense was really clicking in the third quarter, unfortunately they couldn’t put it together the rest of the game.

11. This is somewhat of a coverage sack, but I’ve seen a renewed sense of aggressiveness from the Oklahoma State defensive ends the last few weeks. Webber comes from all the way on the other side of the formation to make the play. He didn’t hesitate and let Mayfield make a play after the pocket broke down.

12. This is just Calvin Bundage doing what he does. This is a three-man rush that is blocked very well up front. Bundage’s primary responsibility appears to be as a spy, once there is no threat of a QB run it turns into a delayed blitz.

13. Bundage wrecking havoc. Brown had a few issues with his athleticism.

It was a tough game for the Oklahoma State defense overall. I’m going back and forth with myself if Baker Mayfield is the best QB I’ve ever seen live, it’s a tough decision between him and Jameis Winston. Obviously it was a tough task coming into this game facing an offense as good as Oklahoma, but the Oklahoma State defense certainly didn’t help itself in a lot of areas. Part of the frustration comes from the fact that there are really good players on this team, and I feel like the defensive staff did a reasonably good job of preparing for the game. They simply couldn’t put it all together to make consistent stops.