The Good, the Bad and the Ugly from Oklahoma State’s Loss to Houston

The Cowboys started hot and then flamed out offensively. For most of the second half, the most compelling thing inside BPS might have been the shirtless section 231. OSU’s final drive, while ultimately meaningless on the outcome of the game, did provide some talking points.

Let’s take a look at the good, bad and ugly from OSU-Houston.

The Good: Noah Walters (?)

I type with all the caution of someone who has covered these Cowboys the last two seasons. But why not highlight the highlights (there are so few of them).

We will certainly dig into Walters deeper as we look forward to Homecoming, but for a guy who was not even on a football team last season, he came out with plenty of moxie and it was at least a nice change.

The Cowboys had managed just two first downs over the previous two and half quarters, spanning six possessions. He came in and immediately looked down the field. His final stat of 1-for-2 for 33 yards (a touchdown) is just the type of weird stat that sums up this season.

The Bad: Big Plays Galore

The Cowboys’ depleted defense showed some heart on Saturday and even had a couple of nice stops. Those can be true while the following is also true. This might be the most enjoyable defense to face in the Power Four.

The Cowboys came in ranked last in the Big 12 in opponent plays of 20 yards or more. They allowed seven (plus a 19-yarder) on Saturday. If you look at plays of at least 30 yards, they came in tied for 130th in the nation, having given up 17. They allowed three more against Houston and gave up 485 yards at 6.1 yards per play.

Unfortunately, those numbers are not atypical for this team. It’s the third time this year that OSU has been at least doubled in total yards gained. And to be honest, there’s not a lot of obvious changes that can be made to turn it around midseason.

The Ugly: Run Game

No, it wasn’t all the bare-chested Cowboys in section 231.

OSU managed just 45 net rushing yards, a new season low. The 1.5 yards per attempt is the lowest in a single game for the Cowboys going back at least 10 years. I don’t know if anyone wants to dig up anything lower. On top of that, there were several bad snaps that killed drives. The Cowboys are depleted everywhere and it’s no different in the trenches, but it was a rough day for the Cowboy bigs and backs.