Stock Up, Stock Down: OSU Offense Gets Creative against Baylor, Defense Struggles to Get Stops

A 1-3 start isn’t the standard of Cowboy football, but — whether it takes months or years — Oklahoma State has started its rebuild process.

Oklahoma State fell to Baylor 45-27 on Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium. Rather than comparing where the Cowboys are now to the standard that 20 years of winning under Mike Gundy has set, I thought a fun bit of Sunday content would be to take stock on things are looking on the field in the short term.

Stock Up: Doug Meacham

Doug Meacham’s debut as the Cowboys’ interim coach ended in a loss, but it’s hard to deny that the Cowboy offense looked rejuvenated despite learning of the coaching change midweek.

This was the Cowboys’ best game in terms of yards of total offense, and it tied a season-best scoring output with OSU’s win against FCS UT-Martin.

It was also more appeasing to the eye, as Meacham emptied the playbook with various gadget plays to force the Baylor defense to stay on its toes.

OSU’s offensive production fell off a cliff in the second half, gaining just 99 yards to the 349 the Pokes put up in the first, but the offense provided at least two quarters of entertainment, which unfortunately hasn’t been the norm this year.

When Jerry Kill took over for Gary Patterson at TCU in 2021, Kill led the Horned Frogs to a 2-2 finish and earned a job at New Mexico State. If the OSU offense can continue to impress relative to how things have been going, Meacham could battle his way into a similar circumstance.

Stock Down: OSU’s Defense

Baylor brings a high-powered offensive attack, but the OSU defense gave its offense little chance of hanging around in this game because Baylor put up 45 points and 612 yards of total offense.

Third downs were a big issue for the Pokes, as Baylor converted seven of its 14 attempts. OSU’s D was also called for six penalties, resulting in a free 85 yards for Baylor.

Missed tackles have all of a sudden become an issue for OSU, as well. According to PFF, OSU missed just 15 tackles combined in the first two games of the season before missing 15 more against Tulsa last week and then 19 Saturday against Baylor.

If the Cowboys can revert back to the tackling of the first two weeks and find a way to get off the field on third down, it’d go a long way into OSU being in one of these games. But if missed tackles continue, the results will probably be more of the same.

Stock Up: Trent Howland

Despite losing Ollie Gordon to the NFL, the Cowboys entered the season with as much depth at running back as they had at any position. But that depth has led to fragmented spurts where guys can go from playing to standing on the sidelines.

Trent Howland didn’t play in the season opener and played just one snap against Tulsa last week. But after Rodney Fields Jr. stepped back into the spotlight against the Golden Hurricane, Howland did the same against the Bears. He finished with 16 carries for 84 yards and two touchdowns.

It’s hard to fight the feeling that Howland and Fields could turn into a thunder and lightning duo for the rest of the season.

Stock Down: Passing Touchdowns from Quarterbacks

Although I do think he is improving week by week, Zane Flores is now four games into the season without throwing a touchdown pass. That’s highlighted even more now that wide receiver Sam Jackson V has thrown for a TD.

Flores nearly had that TD pass against Baylor when he pulled an RPO and ripped a pass to Shamar Rigby. Rigby was caught after a 38-yard gain, but it that was Gavin Freeman or Sam Jackson catching that pass, they probably would’ve scored.

Outside of two consecutive plays in Eugene, Flores has done a good job taking care of the ball, but his completion percentage sits at the bottom of the conference and the OSU offense has to find a way to start getting into the end zone more consistently.

Stock Up: Sam Jackson V

Sam Jackson looked like one of the Cowboys’ better players at the spring game when he housed a kickoff return, but his impact was minimal at the start of the season.

He had five combined touches in OSU’s first three games — three catches, one rush and one pass. Against Baylor under Meacham, who recruited Jackson to TCU, Jackson had eight touches — two catches, two rushes and four pass attempts. He accounted for 60 yards and that touchdown pass.

He was the straw that stirred the Cowboys’ offensive creativity against the Bears and will probably have opposing defensive coordinators staying up a little bit later than they normally would while preparing for the Pokes.