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Why OSU Punted on Fourth Down as OSU Trailed Double Digits Against K-State

Examining Mike Gundy’s late-game decision.

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MANHATTAN, Kan. — You may have scratched your head when you saw Oklahoma State, trailing 12 points and struggling to muster any semblance of its typically high-powered offense, trot out the punt team Saturday as it trailed by 12 points midway through the fourth quarter.

The decision was a punt in more ways than one. It was a punt on a shot to try and strike, before the game got out of hand, which it did shortly thereafter. It was a punt on an opportunity to keep the ball, against a team that held it nearly 38 minutes of possession. And in the moment, it felt as if it was a punt on the day, too.

Maybe out of the moment, it was.

OSU’s offense, which was a shell of itself in the passing game, simply couldn’t execute. So why watch it fail again, when you could instead punt away and let your worn down defense try and take a crack at creating a turnover? That may have been more of a longshot than converting on fourth-and-9, based off how Saturday went.

“Percentages on fourth-and-9, fourth-and-10 are really low,” Gundy said. “I didn’t feel like that was the time — basically if you miss there, you’re out of the game. Percentages are better that you can punt ’em down there, hold ’em get the ball back in time and try to score again.”

Oklahoma State is 38th nationally in fourth-down conversion percentage, successfully moving the chains on 61.5 percent of its attempts. No guarantee, to be sure. And especially not with the down and distance being what it was. But Saturday against K-State, the Pokes lacked a punch in every facet of the game. A fourth-down conversion may have swung some things. A failed attempt, well, the game was practically out of hand anyhow. Shrug emoji and shake it off.

It’s easy to arm chair quarterback from 50 yards away and even easier when it’s not you answering the tough questions in the postgame or putting up your big boy salary on the line with those decisions — and who knows if a different decision changes things. But there was no zest, no spice to OSU against Kansas State. Going for it might’ve shown someone was interested in pushing their chips to the table, even if by the sideline glimpse, there wasn’t much fire to be found in that regard.

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