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What went wrong for OSU football in 2024? Diagnosing Cowboys’ issues
STILLWATER — Because the calendar inches nearer to 2025, Oklahoma State should attempt to choose up the items of a busted 2024 season.
The Cowboys completed 3-9, shedding their final 9 video games — all in Huge 12 play — to complete off their worst season in three many years.
How did this system that competed for Huge 12 championships in two of the earlier three seasons fall to date so quick?
The Cowboys had returned 20 starters, and whereas accidents closely impacted the protection, the offense by no means regained the shape it had proven with just about all the identical gamers in place from a yr earlier.
Requested after the season finale why the offense couldn’t replicate its success, coach Mike Gundy supplied an oversimplified reply.
“We received sporadic quarterback play,” he stated. “I’m not simply blaming (Alan) Bowman, however you guys watch all of our video games proper? There have been two or three video games the place he was unbelievable. There have been two or three video games that have been very common at greatest. In my view, highschool, school, NFL perhaps even decrease than highschool, for those who get sporadic quarterback play, it makes for a really common season.
“Then, we didn’t tie every thing else into it. We have been up and down in all three phases all yr lengthy. We may by no means pull that slot machine and have them hit on the similar time.”
Let’s asses a couple of key areas the place the season went off the rails for the Pokes:
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Offensive line woes
Whereas Gundy’s preliminary response was to level to quarterback play, essentially the most evident concern from the outset of the season was OSU’s incapability to run the ball.
An offensive line stuffed with sixth-year seniors and skilled starters did not frequently open holes.
Ollie Gordon II, who was the reigning Doak Walker Award winner because the nation’s high operating again, opened with 126 speeding yards in opposition to South Dakota State.
It appeared like a modest begin to the season, however turned out to be the top, till a late-November breakout for 156 yards in opposition to Texas Tech.
Gordon reached 100 yards simply 4 instances and was held to 50 or fewer 5 instances.
The absence of the run sport put undue strain on Bowman to make performs at quarterback. And defenses have been stopping the run with out dedicating plenty of further consideration to it, which elevated their skill to clog passing lanes as nicely.
That led to the inconsistent quarterback play Gundy talked about — however we’ll get to that later.
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Inept run protection
Whereas accidents to All-Huge 12 gamers Collin Oliver and Nick Martin did essentially the most long-term injury to the Cowboys’ hopes of defensive enchancment within the second half of the season, their run protection was a large number even earlier than the accidents.
Arkansas rushed for 232 yards and even Tulsa had a little bit of success on the bottom early earlier than the sport received out of hand.
The primary six Huge 12 opponents rushed for at the very least 225 yards, most of these after Martin — the Cowboys’ main tackler in 2023 — was misplaced for the season.
OSU couldn’t cease the run, couldn’t sort out constantly and couldn’t get third-down stops. In consequence, the protection was on the sector method an excessive amount of. The consequence was a unit that allowed over 500 yards per sport and ranked next-to-last out of 134 Division I applications in that class.
Complicating issues, the Cowboys had modified their protection within the offseason, shifting away from the 3-3-5 coordinator Bryan Nardo was employed to run. So Nardo was left scrambling to repair an injury-riddled protection that differed from his key space of experience.
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Quarterback carousel
It appeared Bowman was going to be the reply to OSU’s run-game struggles. The seventh-year quarterback averaged 322.3 passing yards by three non-conference video games.
However the Utah sport highlighted some challenges, leading to his benching at halftime. It appeared odd on the time, contemplating the variety of second-half comebacks Bowman had helped orchestrate in 2023, and as just lately as two weeks prior in opposition to Arkansas.
Nonetheless, Gundy believed it was time to make a change. Although Bowman would begin the primary three video games of Huge 12 play, he was benched within the second half of two, and eventually, Gundy switched to Garret Rangel because the starter within the seventh sport of the season.
Rangel, in fact, suffered a damaged collarbone within the second quarter of his first begin, at BYU, and with redshirt freshman backup Zane Flores already sidelined by ankle surgical procedure, the job went again to Bowman.
After the offense limped by a couple of extra losses, true freshman Maealiuaki Smith received his shot to blended outcomes, and now, the Cowboys go into the offseason set for a quarterback battle involving a largely unknown trio of gamers.
Extra:Oklahoma State soccer provides former OU RB Kalib Hicks through switch portal
2024 OSU soccer schedule
- Aug. 31: OSU 44, South Dakota State 20
- Sept. 7: OSU 39, Arkansas 31 (2OT)
- Sept. 14: OSU 45, Tulsa 10
- Sept. 21: Utah 22, OSU 19
- Sept. 28: Kansas State 42, OSU 20
- Oct. 5: West Virginia 38, OSU 14
- Oct. 18: BYU 38, OSU 35
- Oct. 26: Baylor 38, OSU 28
- Nov. 2: Arizona State 42, OSU 21
- Nov. 9: TCU 38, OSU 13
- Nov. 23: Texas Tech 56, OSU 48
- Nov. 29: Colorado 52, OSU 0
2025 OSU soccer schedule
- Aug. 30: vs. UT Martin
- Sept. 6: at Oregon
- Sept. 20: vs. Tulsa
- Date TBA: at Arizona
- Date TBA: at Kansas
- Date TBA: vs. Baylor
- Date TBA: vs. Houston
- Date TBA: vs. Iowa State
- Date TBA: vs. Cincinnati
- Date TBA: at Texas Tech
- Date TBA: at UCF
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