What Oklahoma State’s Defense Did Well Statistically in 2017

It’s no mystery that the Oklahoma State Cowboys had an up-and-down season defensively. One week they hold West Virginia to under 70 yards rushing and 2-for-15 on third downs and the next they give up almost 800 yards to Oklahoma.

Most of the Cowboys’ statistics clearly show this. OSU’s passing defense, for example, struggled for the majority of the season, and the Pokes finished 116th in the country in passing yards allowed. The Cowboys also gave up 2.06 points per drive, which is No. 58 in the country. Still, there were some positives in a couple of statistical categories that have the potential to become even better in the future.

Despite giving up almost 270 passing yards per game, OSU was first in the Big 12 and tied for 14th in the country in interceptions with 17. The Cowboys were also third in the conference in both sack average and defensive passing efficiency (only Texas and TCU were better). Turnovers have long been a focus for defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer, and the Cowboys were able to accumulate multiple takeaways, often at just the right time.

As far as the run game is concerned, it was painfully inconsistent, holding Texas to 42 rushing yards in the first half of the season and then giving up 5 yards per rush against Virginia Tech in their bowl game. Even so, the Cowboys finished the season as a top-40 rushing defense and were third in the conference and No. 20 in the NCAA in tackles for loss.

The Cowboys also had a couple of players who stood out statistically. Dequinton Osborne was No. 6 and No. 9 in the conference in sacks and tackles for loss respectively, and Ramon Richards was 6th in passes defended. The problem, though, is that both are seniors. One silver lining (from someone who is returning) is that freshman cornerback A.J. Green finished the season tied for third in interceptions with four. Green was a bright spot in what was an inexperienced stable of cornerbacks, but he will have three more years to develop his talent.

OSU will never dominate the country in yards given up or other yards-based statistics, especially in an offense-happy league like the Big 12. The Cowboy defense also has to rebuild considering how much talent they’re losing to graduation. But if they can find a way to excel in categories like turnovers and points per drive, yards suddenly don’t matter all that much, and that can be enough to help propel a team to a conference championship.