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Texas Tech Debriefing: Examining What Went Wrong in OSU’s Baffling Home Loss

What we can (and may not want to) learn from OSU’s loss to Texas Tech.

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Oklahoma State got run off of its home turf on Saturday by a team who hadn’t enjoyed a trip back from Stillwater since its head coach was its starting QB. The Cowboys suffered their worst loss in three seasons and were held under 20 points at home for the first time in four. Let’s debrief.

The Short Story

This game had all the trappings of a classic OSU-Tech shootout at the close of the first quarter with the home team holding a 10-7 lead. But a series of missed opportunities, mental lapses and big plays by Tech facilitated a rout and left a bad taste in the mouth of all in orange.

Who Earned a Marshal Badge?
Offense: Tylan Wallace

Wallace was one of the few bright spots for Oklahoma State on offense. Taylor Cornelius forced the ball to his No. 1 option early and often. Wallace grabbed seven of his 14 targets for 111 yards and his second TD on the year. And more than a couple of those catches were tough and contested.

Wallace is a budding star for OSU who has led all Cowboy receivers in targets and touches the last three weeks, and it’s easy to see why. Wallace joined James Washington and Justin Blackmon as the only Cowboy underclassmen to string together three-straight 100-yard games.

Defense: Mike Scott

The Cowboys came into Week 4 leading the nation with 16 sacks. Midway through the third quarter an uninspiring defensive effort had produced exactly zero on the night.

Enter Mike Scott, his fresh legs and the boost they gave the Cowboys defense. The redshirt transfer sacked freshman QB Alan Bowman for a loss of 8 to set up a fourth-and-20. With the Cowboys down 14 and with nearly 18 minutes of game clock left, it appeared to be the type of spark OSU would need. Unfortunately the ensuing punt was muffed by Wallace (you notice I didn’t give him a badge for special teams), and Tech retained the ball.

But Scott got right back to the quarterback on that next drive on third-and-goal, forcing the Tech to go for 3. They didn’t lead to the desired result against Tech, but those are game-winning plays.

Questions for Week 5

The longer we go on, the less we seem to learn about this team. Or maybe we just don’t like what we’re learning. Oklahoma State’s offense line was bested in most ways that it could be, albeit by an obviously improved Tech front.

Jim Knowles’ defense was exposed and rode ragged during his Big 12 debut. The up-tempo offense of the Red Raiders pretty much nullified OSU’s pass rush for most of the game and Bowman was able to pick on and apart OSU’s secondary. That could be an issue moving forward.

The 6-foot-6 elephant in the room isn’t getting any smaller — or any better at connecting on deep balls. Mike Gundy seemed to be in Cornelius’ corner on Saturday night, we’ll see if there are any changes on the horizon as the Pokes prepare for their first road game of the season in Lawrence.

Play of the Game

A.J. Green wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination on Saturday night. He got completely lost early allowing an easy TD for the Red Raiders and overall the Pokes secondary took some lumps against Tech.

But Green also flashed his high-upside playmaking ability with this impressive interception in the end zone.

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