Three Things We Learned From OSU’s Win Over West Virginia

We’re going to put the WVU-OSU game to bed and move on to Kansas State, but first let’s look at three things Kyle and Kyle learned on Saturday as OSU took down the Mountaineers in Stillwater.

Kyle Porter

1. When Rudolph is on, OSU’s offense is amazing

I gave a lot of credit to Mike & Mike for the way they set up QB1 for success on Saturday, but the reality is that somebody still has to make the throws. Rudolph made them all against a nasty Big 12 defense and the Pokes reaped the spoils of his performance.

We can talk about game plans and the running game and a million other things, but a lot of OSU’s offensive success boils down to this: When Mason Rudolph is humming, the Cowboys are really difficult to beat.

2. Tre Flowers has some juice

This wasn’t his hardest hit of the day, but it was representative of the kind of day he had. He laid the hammer all afternoon against the ‘Eers to the tune of nine tackles. I’m not sure I’ve ever been more impressed with his ability to hit and wrap up than I was on Saturday.

3. This team still has another gear

This was like the Baylor game for me if the Baylor game had resulted in a win for OSU. I was encouraged by the fact that this could indeed be a Big 12 title squad. It played really well on Saturday and thoroughly dominated a top 10 opponent, but you could see there was still some margin for improvement.

The run game sagged a little and OSU couldn’t capitalize in the red zone a few times when it should have. I think this 2016 squad has one lights out, all-time performance in it that we haven’t seen yet. Hopefully it comes December 3 in Norman.

Kyle Boone

1. Mike and Mike’s Chameleon Offense Strikes Again

Thomas Fleming cleverly coined this OSU offense as a chameleon, as they change their schemes and approach week-to-week depending on the matchup. But this week, it was more a change in mindset rather than a change in scheme.

With OSU’s offensive strength clearly in their deep ball success, West Virginia schemed to take away that option, which allowed the underneath and intermediate throws to become open. And OSU had a good idea what to expect coming into the game.

“Before the game, I told all the receivers, ‘With this 3-3 stack how they play, we’re not getting any deep balls today. So we’re going to have to catch the short stuff and make something happen out of it,’” James Washington said. “I feel like that’s exactly what we did.”

2. Defensive Line Shines Brightest Once Again

After last weeks performance against Kansas that showcased some serious Piesman potential from several D-lineman, the big fellas up front once again put on a clinic. It was Vincent Taylor and Cole Walterscheid who came up for the Pokes on Saturday, stripping Skyler Howard to get OSU in good field position. Taylor has proven he is the anchor and bully of the defensive front, and finished Saturday with 2.5 sacks and 3 tackles for loss.

The lateral king causes a fumble. #okstate in business. https://t.co/7utSiCk45e

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) October 29, 2016

3. It was a secretly great recruiting weekend

Since I’m the crootin’ guy I feel like I can sneak this in here. OSU had a solid day with many recruits on hand, highlighted by OSU commits Tylan and Tracin Wallace, offensive line commit Dan Moore, and hoops recruits Trae Young and Bourama Sidibe, among others.

On top of that list, I found that four-star 2018 Tulsa Union receiver CJ Moore, and 2017 NEO defensive line standout Isaiah Johnson were also in attendance. With so many recruits on hand in a raucus environment, Oklahoma State had a good day not only showcasing a great environment, but also knocking off a top 10 team. It was a win-win for the coaching staff.