Notebook: Inside the Mind of a Big 12 Corner, Two-Back Sets and Covering Wallace

STILLWATER — Members of the Oklahoma State football team are back to work after a momentous weekend.

Players met with the media after their practice Tuesday. Here is an expanded look at some talking points.

A Corner’s Mentality

A.J. Green and Rodarius Williams might have the toughest jobs of any OSU football players.

It’s been a difficult season for the cornerback tandem. With a lot of youth at safety, Green and Williams have had a hard time dealing with the Big 12’s air-heavy offenses. Against Texas on Saturday, though, the Cowboy corners got the better of the Longhorns’ heralded receiving combo of Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson.

Entering Saturday, Humphrey and Johnson combined for 1,139 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Against the Cowboys, the pair had 134 yards and no scores.

“We heard about them a lot, Lil’Jordan and Collin, No. 9 and No. 84,” Green said. “We know that they were the guys that they wanted to get the ball to. They were the playmakers. Being a secondary, we were like, ‘Man, forget those guys. We’re some guys, too.’ I felt like we took the challenge upon ourselves. We wanted to compete.”

Life as a Big 12 corner is a roller coaster, but it’s what Green said he signed up for. He said he wanted to come to a Big 12 school because of how much the schools throw the ball.

“It takes a dog mentality,” Green said. “You gotta be able to compete every down, every play on that island. Have short-term memory. Even if you catch a pick, you gotta go out there. They can still try and score again the next drive. It just takes a dog because it’s not always going to go your way all the time.”

Hubbard on Increased Number of Two-Back Sets

OSU offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich opened up the Cowboys’ playbook and threw in more plays that put Justice Hill and a fellow-running back in the backfield at the same time Saturday.

The gameplan saw Hill and redshirt freshman Chuba Hubbard combine for 172 rushing yards against Texas, and it kept the Longhorns’ defense guessing.

“It’s good because any guy can get the ball, and I think it kinda misleads guys,” Hubbard said. “It’s not just like one guy is blocking and another guys is running. One guy can go for a route, another guy can do a run or pass block. That misleads people and keeps our legs fresh.”

J.D. King had four carries for 1 yard Saturday, and LD Brown hasn’t gotten a carry since OSU’s Week 2 game against South Alabama, but Hubbard said it would benefit defenses to not focus on only Hill.

“I feel like they do take (running backs not named Justice Hill) as a threat,” Hubbard said. “J.D., if I was on defense, I’d be like, ‘Uh oh, this guy’s coming full head of steam. This guy’s big. He’s gonna smack me.’ LD’s in there, you don’t wanna miss him or stop your feet or he’s gone. Same with J Hill. J Hill can do it all.

“I feel like yeah, that plays a part. They don’t just be like, ‘Oh, this guy is in, we’re good, we can take a play off.’ If they do, they’re gonna be in trouble.”

Wallace Welcomes More Attention from Opposing Defenses

Tylan Wallace’s numbers have been good all season, but when he catches 10 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns during prime time on a major network, odds are Wallace will get more attention from secondaries moving forward.

Wallace has 50 catches this season, the next closest Cowboy is Tyron Johnson with 21, but Wallace said he is OK with the increased attention on him because he knows his teammates will get more opportunities.

“That’s fine with me,” Wallace said. “If they wanna double cover me, I’ll take that because that means somebody else is open. As long as we win the game, I’m perfectly fine with that.

“I feel like with all the receivers will step up even more than they have now. I feel like we’re all going to have pretty big games coming up. I would look out for that.”