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Three Fixes OSU Needs to Focus on During Bye Week

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I’ve already laid out a checklist for the off week that would aid the Cowboys in their hunt for a bowl bid, but let’s get into specifics.

Here are three specific fixes (not personnel changes) that Oklahoma State needs to make if it is going to see any type of improvement on the field over the last five games of the season.

1. Run Blocking Consistently

The numbers will tell you that Oklahoma State is actually improved in the ground game this season. Through seven games, OSU’s yards per carry is up (5.1 from 4.6 last year), and the Cowboys are averaging 22 yards more per game, currently at 201.1.

But my eyeballs (and Mike Gundy) tell me that Oklahoma State has had issues moving the ball when it needs to. The blame is shared across the offense but an offensive line that both Gundy and myself assumed would be improved, really hasn’t shown that consistently enough.

What was especially head-scratching was that during the early nonconference, against some teams they out-athlete, the OL struggled to get push.

“We’ve got a lot of things to correct,” Gundy said during this week’s practice. “One week we don’t block well to run the ball, the next week we don’t block well to throw the ball. One week we throw the ball well, one week we don’t throw the ball well.”

Consistency is key and the Cowboys have been anything but during the first half or so of the season.

2. Improve in the Red Zone

The Cowboys have had their fair share of chunk-yardage plays thanks to some dynamic athletes both at receiver and in the backfield. But when the field is shortened and they have to pick up a couple yards to finish a drive, they’ve struggled.

Here’s a look at the Big 12’s PPR numbers (points per red zone attempt).

Red Zone Offense RZ Att/Comp RZ Scoring Pct TDs FGs PPR
West Virginia 21/24 88.6% 18 3 6.4
Oklahoma 22/24 91.7% 18 5 5.9
Baylor 25/27 92.6% 18 7 5.4
Kansas 11/13 84.6% 9 2 5.3
Texas Tech 31/36 86.1% 24 7 5.3
Oklahoma State 31/35 88.6% 21 10 5.1
Iowa State 16/16 100.0% 8 8 5.0
TCU 16/20 80.0% 11 5 4.6
Texas 18/24 75.0% 14 4 4.6
Kansas State 18/24 76.2% 8 8 3.9

While the Cowboys are fourth in red zone scoring percentage, they’re just sixth in PPR thanks to settling for 10 field goals on 28.6 percent of trips inside the 20 (third-highest in the league).

Last Saturday in Manhattan, the Cowboys scored on all three trips but settled for 3 on the first two.

“We’re not a very tough football team inside the 3-yard-line,” said Gundy after the game. “We have to improve at that.”

As Gundy noted, struggling to finish off drives has been the Cowboys’ MO for several years now.

That’s made all the more frustrating when you see a team like Texas Tech come in with a freshman QB who is still learning the playbook and score four red zone TDs on you on. Those are outcome-deciding situations and the Pokes need to figure out how to improve in them.

3. Clean Up Penalties

The Pokes have been pretty sloppy when it comes to mental mistakes and penalty yardage. They are 96th nationally and 7th in the Big 12 averaging 7.4 penalties per game, and their 73.4 penalty yards per game is 114th nationally and 8th in the conference — and they seem to come at the most inopportune, drive-killing moments.

These things are normally chalked up to youth, which Oklahoma State has plenty of. During practice availability this week, Mike Gundy talked about his concern with the youth on his roster. He was talking about the overall leadership on the team, but what he said was interesting as it applies to the some of those mental errors.

“We don’t have enough mature, experienced leaders like we have had,” said Gundy. “That is true, but that’s where some guys who haven’t had to shoulder that responsibility in the past have to step up.

“You guys who have been around here with me for a number of years. I always tell you that’s one thing the team really has to do itself. As coaches, we can’t generate that. It has to happen naturally over a period of time.”

At this point of the season, the green should be wearing off and some of those that have taken their lumps (in all three talking points) should be getting more seasoned. Let’s hope that it manifests itself into positive results on the field.

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