Stat of the Week: Remember When OSU Used to Pass the Ball?

Somebody in The Chamber brought this up recently, but how wild is it that Chuba Hubbard’s best rushing game (296 against Kansas State) is superior to Spencer Sanders best passing game (290 against Texas Tech)?

What kind of bizarro world are we living in where OSU can’t buy a 300-yard passing game and has seen 200 yards just twice since the end of September. That 200-yard barometer used to be a half, maybe even a quarter. Now it spans multiple weeks!

I wrote on Monday about pace of play and the style OSU is employing and why employing that style is wise when you have one of the best tailbacks in the history of the sport (#factsonly!) in your backfield.

But did you know how crazy the disparity actually is?

Of the other nine Big 12 teams, only Kansas State has thrown it fewer times than OSU this season. Kansas State! And OSU and Kansas State are essentially tied when it comes to highest percentage of rush plays when compared to overall plays.

Here are the full-season numbers.

Team	Rush Plays
Kansas State	63%
Oklahoma State	63%
TCU	57%
Oklahoma	57%
Baylor	54%
Kansas	50%
Texas	49%
Iowa State	46%
Texas Tech	45%
West Virginia	43%

This is Gundy’s dream of course. OSU has rushed it 63 percent of the time overall and 62 percent of the time in Big 12-only games, which is 3 percent more than anyone else and by far the most in the conference (Texas, by the way, has 261 passes and rushes in Big 12 play).

That’s not all, though.

This is shaping up to be the heaviest rushing season in a decade and — quite possibly given the, uh, rumored QB situation moving forward — maybe of the entire Gundy era. Here’s where we stand right now going into the final two games.

Year	Rush	Pass
2008	64%	36%
2019	63%	37%
2009	62%	38%
2006	62%	38%
2007	61%	39%
2005	57%	43%
2014	56%	44%
2016	51%	49%
2018	51%	49%
2012	51%	49%
2013	51%	49%
2017	50%	50%
2015	47%	53%
2010	46%	54%
2011	40%	60%

• That 2008 team had two future professional wideouts who played 206 NFL games and had a combined 90 TDs, and Gundy looked at the landscape and said, “Nah, I’m good.”

• That 2008 team also had three future professionals in the backfield (Toston, Zac and Hunter).

• That 2008 team was good.

• The outlier here is actually the 2011 team, which rushed it just under 400 times. This year’s team hit the 400-mark two weeks ago. It’s understandable why you would toss it 60 percent of the time with a first-rounder at QB and a top-10 pick at wideout, but that’s a pretty crazy number given Gundy’s desires.

• I think the 2019 team gets to 65 percent over the final three games. With a murky (at best!) situation at QB and Chuba gunning for NYC, Gundy is going to go full Herb Brooks down the stretch with his Canadian thoroughbred, and OSU slinging it all over the yard will continue to be a memory of the past.