The Good, the Bad and the Ugly from Oklahoma State’s Win Against UCF

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The Cowboys, once again, took control of a Big 12 opponent in the second half.

Oklahoma State is now 4-1 and one of five unbeatable teams in Big 12 play. Each W the Cowboys stack up makes that Week 1 loss to Tulsa all the more distant (and head-scratching). But that doesn’t mean it was a perfect outing.

Let’s take a look at a modified Good, Bad and Ugly review of the Cowboys’ win over the Knights.

The Good: Second-Half Team

We are getting to a big enough sample size to start considering this a trend.

There is a lot to like about the way the Cowboys played in the second half, especially on defense and specifically when it comes to causing turnovers. OSU forced two in the second half. One scoop and score that led to eight points and another interception to end the game.

But overall, the Cowboys have outscored teams in the second half in all four of their wins. They outscored UCF 21-7 after the break and won the second half in Morgantown 28-10. Murray State was a shutout so obviously, but OSU finished that game 28-0 over the final two frames. They even beat Oregon 15-14 in the second half.

It’s not like the Cowboys have dug themselves too deep a hole early, but you’d probably prefer to not have to mount a comeback each week. But the more impressive thing is that they’ve shown they can. Things aren’t going to be perfect in conference play, but the Pokes’ coaches and players have shown the ability to make halftime adjustments and to not lose confidence. That’s coaching and culture.

The Bad Better: Red Zone Scoring

I’m really taxing the format here, but I think it’s important to make this point. OSU is still ahead of only Colorado in the league in TD% in the red zone, but there was some marked improvement on Saturday. The Cowboys went 5-for-5 in the red zone but, more importantly, had to settle for only one field goal. And they boosted that percentage by thinking a bit out of the box.

We knew Drew Mestemaker could keep it from his performance against Oregon, but he picked up an 11-yard TD and then did a mini version of that acrobatic score with a 2-point conversion keeper. Then you have OSU tight end Morgan McPhaul picking up a 1-yard TD on the first rush of this career.

A minor digression that also bears pointing out: Sam Keltner is now 12-for-12 on field goals this season, the most makes by anyone in the FBS. So he’s not a bad option either. But it would be nice if he was utilized more for the longer kicks.

The Ugly: Rinse, Repeat, Missing on Too Many Third-Down Conversions

Broken record here, but the Pokes’ third-down struggles are more than a trend. They rank 14th in the Big 12 now, converting only 33.9% of their third-down attempts. If you look at fourth downs (the new third-and-short), the Cowboys are T-11th at 44.4%. It seems strange for such a dynamic offense with high-level playcalling. For comparison, OSU’s next opponent, Houston converts 62.7% of third downs and 71.4% of fourth downs, leading the league in both.

OSU was 4-of-9 on third downs against UCF and 1-for-2 on fourth down. If we include third- and fourth-down attempts, the Cowboys were 5-of-11 (45.4%). They’ve only been above 50% on those combined money downs once (4-of-7 against Murray State).

The Cowboys are still getting it done, and they are T-2nd in the league with Utah for first downs per game at 26.4. But they are leaving points on the table and putting more strain on their defense when they can’t sustain some of those drives. It might come back to bite them one of these Saturdays and could limit their potential when we get into November.