Oklahoma State Secondary Takes Heat After Entire Defense Struggles in Loss Houston

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HOUSTON — Oklahoma State’s defense put the Cowboys on the doorstep of an improbable comeback twice in the final three minutes by pushing the Cougars to third down.

Both times, the defense responded to the moment by giving up 16- and 18-yard pass plays that let the 20th-ranked Cougars run out the clock in their 35-32 win over No. 18 OSU.

“I thought we were really bad in the secondary tonight,” Eric Morris said. “You know, we lost in man-to-man coverage. We lost in zone coverage.”

There was plenty of blame to go around for all of OSU’s DBs, considering Houston quarterback Conner Weigman finished the game completing 24-of-33 passes for a career-high 343 yards and five touchdowns (a first for him against Power Four competition) to one interception.

The worst thing for OSU’s defense is that those guys did some of their worst performances when the game mattered the most. Houston converted seven-of-13 third downs, all three fourth downs, and finished the game with three touchdowns, all through the air, on four red zone trips.

“In my mind right now, it wasn’t just one thing,” Morris said. “We lost in man coverage, we lost in zone coverage, play action and roll out pass. There’s a lot right now off the top of my mind. Like we got to go back and see how maybe we can put them in better situations in certain times.

“And then, too, I think just like for us when they have the ball. We got to be able to rush the passer and get some heat on him and not let him be comfortable back there.”

PFF data from the game was still under final review, but several hours after the game, the Cowboys were credited with seven total pressures (including four hurries) on 37 dropbacks by Weigman.

The Houston QB was particularly deadly in the red zone, where he hit Patrick Overmeyer for a 2-yard touchdown on third-and-2 after the tight end successfully faked his block to beat safety Evan Jackson, who was filling in for injured starter Mose Phillips.

On a later red zone drive on third-and-5, Weigman found a soft spot between nickel Christian Bodnar, who seemed to get beat off the line a bit, and safety Quinton Hammonds, who came flying across the field to sandwich receiver Amare Thomas just as he hauled in the 7-yard touchdown.

Then on third-and-2, Weigman hit receiver Trent Walker after he hit corner LaDainian Fields with a nice move to get just enough separation on the outside for the 2-yard touchdown.

When the Cowboys needed to get the ball back at the end, it was Jackson who seemingly gave up the 16-yard pass on third-and-3 and cornerback Kollin Lewis who gave up the 18-yard completion on third-and-7.

“We just weren’t disciplined enough,” safety Quinton Hammonds said when asked about giving up third-down conversions, especially in the red zone. “We didn’t fight, we didn’t strain. We didn’t give up, but we didn’t play as hard as we should have.”

Despite not starting, Fields dominated the position on Saturday, playing 84% of the snaps according to PFF data, well in line with his other performances. Horn and Lewis were next, playing 40 and 33% of the snaps.

Lewis gave up all five targets thrown his way for a team-worst 88 yards. Fields came down with the lone pick and limited Houston to 3-of-5 receptions for 13 yards, but that did include one touchdown.

Kobi Foreman gave up a 48-yard touchdown pass despite playing only nine plays. Horn gave up one catch on one target for only 10 yards.

“You saw four of them tonight,” Morris said of his corners. “It’s just being able to figure out the two that we can trust at a consistent level, right? And who’s going to make the plays? Even thinking back in my head right now, it’s not like one of them was the only one that … They kind of took turns. We got to figure out who the two are that we’re going to go with.”

When asked to clarify if he would like to shorten his corner rotation down to two primary guys, the head coach walked things back from that ledge just a bit.

“I would like to have as many as they can play and can make plays,” Morris said. “I want to see guys out there that are competing and can contest these balls.”

OSU has typically played three guys with a heavy involvement, with Foreman’s role fluctuating wildly.

Although the secondary took the brunt of Morris’ criticism in his postgame presser, the defense overall seemed to disappoint as Houston’s primary rushers (Weigman and running back Makhi Hughes) combined for 129 rushing yards on 29 carries (4.4 yards per carry). That included one third-and-short down conversion (on three attempts), a fourth-and-one conversion and the game-sealing eight-yard run on second-and-6 at the end.

“You gotta look inwards first,” linebacker Ethan Wesloski said. “My tackling wasn’t good enough. I was leaving too much space between me and ball carriers. I can’t speak for the other 10 guys on the field with me, but if I’m giving an eagle-eye view, I’d just say it wasn’t good enough. There’s too many times I saw people miss tackles. It’s on the other 10 guys to strain to the ball, finish it and get him down.”

Both Wesloski and Hammonds stressed that the Cowboys didn’t win their one-on-ones, and both defensive leaders put plenty of blame on their own plate.

“I played too soft, didn’t play strong,” Hammonds said. “Got punched in my mouth, didn’t fight back, and it is just getting out of that slump. I just didn’t do it, and I didn’t perform well enough to my standards.”