Superlatives from OSU’s Overtime Loss to Texas

The Cowboys made it all the way to Halloween before suffering their first lost of 2020. The end was almost less disappointing than the means, but there were a couple of encouraging things to take from a scary night in Stillwater.

(I will retire all Halloween puns with the writing of this post.)

Let’s go over some talking points from OSU-Texas before we move on to Kansas State, starting with the distribution of game balls.

Game Ball (Offense): Tylan Wallace

In a game in which just about every witch on OSU’s offense showed its warts, Tylan was perfect. Texas sold out to limit OSU’s rushing game (it pretty much worked) but Tylan took advantage.

No. 2 caught all 11 balls that were thrown his way for 187 yards and two scores.

OSU has been fortunate enough to enjoy a nice run of elite wideouts over the last decade or so, but we should never take for granted the opportunity to watch this guy on the regular.

Game Ball (Defense): The Defense

OSU’s D was smothering most of the game. Box score lurkers and those who just caught the cliffs notes on SportsCenter will have no idea.

Texas converted just 2-of-15 attempts on third down, averaged 3.8 yards per play (the Longhorns came in averaging 6.3) and mustered just 287 total yards, its lowest total in three years.

Most importantly, of the 34 points that Texas scored in regulation you can only truly lay 7 of them on the shoulders of Jim Knowles’ crew.

Three times OSU’s offense gave Texas the ball in the red zone, and two of those times the Cowboys defense held UT to 3. Only two Longhorn drives that started in Texas territory ended with a score, and one of those was extended due to a special teams snafu (see below).

The Cowboys D was beat up but still showed up time and time again, tackled in space and never let up. The group played well enough to shut down the Big 12’s best offense. Unfortunately, it was battling both offenses on Saturday.

Biggest What-if: Stay Away from the Punter

This one is hard because there were several mind-blowing what-ifs that each could have made the difference in the outcome, from the questionable flags, the astonishing overturned catch call for Dillon Stoner and the frustratingly avoidable turnovers.

But for me, the biggest itch in my craw will be the head-scratching roughing-the-kicker penalty late in the fourth quarter that I alluded to above. Argue the call if you want, but Kanion Williams should have been no where near the punter’s plant leg.

What would have been a crucial stop — giving OSU back the ball with a five-point lead in the fourth quarter — turned into new life for the Longhorns. Sam Ehlinger would push the rock down the field on his new gifted possession and convert multiple fourth downs with one of them ending in the end zone to knock the Pokes back on their heels. They never regained the lead.

Questions Moving Forward

The 2020 Cowboys are no longer perfect, but they never were to start with. Now that they’ve suffered their first defeat, the biggest question will be how the Pokes respond.

The potential is still there for a conference title run. The Cowboys have everything in front of them in that regard, but the margins just became razor thin.

In years past we’ve seen one loss turn into two, or more. Will that be the story of this team? This defense is good enough to win a couple of games for the offense. Can Spencer Sanders and this offense grow enough (and in time) for the Cowboys to reach their ceiling?

We’ll start to find out next week when the Cowboys go on the road to face another team on the ropes. After that, a bye week. After that, Bedlam. As Gundy is prone to say, we’ll know a lot more about this team in November.