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Scouting Report: Despite Less Usage, Cowboy Backs Still Play Role

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Mike Gundy surely knows how to duck hunt so he knows the value of a decoy.

Oklahoma State’s Cowboy Backs are more than a ploy when they are on the field, but that is definitely one of the major roles they play. In OSU’s 59-21 win at Pittsburgh, the first two snaps of the game confirmed that the Cowboy Backs would not be heavily involved in the yards and TDs categories.

This play was pass interference if I’ve ever seen it, and it should have been a gain of 44 because Chris Lacy should have caught it. Point being, sending Britton Abbott in motion in the backfield, running the ball with success the play before and using play-action dragged that center safety up. It worked, at least it should have.

I saw a comment on my receiver production post from Saturday that questioned why OSU still uses the Cowboy Backs when there is so much talent and success when there are four receivers on the field.

Allow me to explain.

They Already Aren’t Used That Much

Four straight plays was the longest stretch the Cowboy Backs were used Saturday.

There was a spurt of three and four back-to-back instances in which at least one Cowboy Back was on the field. Other than that, there were only six individual snaps when they were used.

Let’s compare that with when the Cowboy Backs were not used.

A run of seven straight plays, three runs of four, three of three and just three stand-alone snaps where a CW was not on the field at all.

Stat Snaps Used Snaps Unused
Longest Streak 4 7
Total 21 31
Percentage 40.4 60.6

If you are going to commit a position coach to that position and recruit that position year-after-year, there has to be a level of commitment to it, even if it’s more like an engagement rather than a marriage.

Value in the Run Game

When a Cowboy Back was on the field, OSU running backs ran nine times for 55 yards, two first downs and one score.

And that one score would not have happened if Abbott was not on the field. Watch this lead block.

The next drive, OSU was backed up almost to where Mason Rudolph was standing on the letters in his own end zone. It was third and 11. Highly doubtful that the Cowboys get a first down. But they did.

And they might not have if Sione Finefeuiaki wasn’t on the field.

Having another body in the backfield means there will likely be another defender in the tackle box, which there often was. In addition to some success, OSU running backs had runs of 1, 2, 3 and 4 yards while a CW back was leading the way.

There were lulls Saturday and especially against South Alabama when you were just waiting for Justice to go full Tulsa mode. But that leads to the second point and the one I made at the beginning.

Setting Up the Pass Attack

Rudolph threw for only 109 yards when a Cowboy Back was on the field with him, but he could have thrown for at least 250.

The majority of Rudolph’s misses came with one CW in the formation. He went 5-for-11 and missed throws of 44, 31, 25, 21 and 16. That is not the Cowboy Back’s fault, except maybe if they missed their blocking assignment, which they almost never did.

Above, you have the Cowboys’ version of the run-pass option. The offensive line is in a run blocking scheme, and Abbott is acting like a lead blocker though he isn’t one. From a safety’s perspective, that is the hardest play to defend in the book.

I mean sheesh. Just look at that strong safety shuffle down into the box thinking he was going to have to make a tackle.

Decoy? Unquestionably.

Effective? Even more so.

Aftershock When OSU Goes Spread

The 16th, 17th and 18th offensive snaps will illustrate this perfectly.

OSU ran for a 4-yard first down using a Cowboy Back on play 16. A play after, still with a CW on the field, Rudolph threw incomplete on a dump-off in the flat.

Consider the defense lured for play 18. It’s tough for the opposing defense to adjust to the different personnel OSU can deploy at a moment’s notice. The Cowboy Backs remain effective for what they’re trying to accomplish, and there is a reason Mike Yurcich takes those guys out when he does.

Because you don’t take shots at your decoys.

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