Five Takeaways from Oklahoma State Football’s Week 2 Depth Chart vs. Oregon
In this story:
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have never hosted a Big Ten opponent before — and it took a former Pac-12 member to make it happen.
The Cowboys (0-1) will host the No. 2 Oregon Ducks at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. Oklahoma State will be seeking an upset to extend its streak of winning 30 straight home openers. The Ducks (1-0) are seeking to extend their mastery over the Cowboys after last year’s 69-3 win in Eugene, Ore.
The Cowboys released their depth chart on Tuesday. Here are five takeaways, with context from head coach Eric Morris.
Here are five key takeaways from the updated depth chart for Week 2 against Oregon.
Replacing Jacob Sexton
With Jacob Sexton out for the season with a lower leg injury, the Cowboys are taking an “OR” approach to left tackle. It will be either Desmond Magiya or Shaun Torgeson who starts in Sexton’s place on Saturday. Interestingly, both are still listed at other positions. Magiya is listed as an “OR” at left guard while Torgeson is listed as an “OR” at right tackle.
Morris said on Tuesday that whoever practices the best will get the nod. If one is reading tea leaves, Morris has been impressed with Torgeson’s ability to pick up the offense even though he was one of the last players Oklahoma State secured from the transfer portal. Magiya has played in Morris’ offense at North Texas and played more than 200 snaps at left tackle last season.
This is truly going to be a hot hand kind of situation.
The Backup Running Back
For the second straight week Tre Page II was listed as the backup running back to Caleb Hawkins. But his hold on the job is not secure. Morris made that clear on Tuesday.
“Completely open right now,” Morris said. “So may the best man win.”
Page and Ayo Adeyi split carries behind Hawkins. Page had seven carries for 19 yards and Adeyi had six carries for 24 years. Critically, Page had a fumble that cost the Cowboys a possession against Tulsa.
Page played at Tarleton State last year and would have rushed for 1,000 or more years if not for a mid-season injury. Adeyi missed all but four games in two seasons at James Madison due to an injury and a redshirt but rushed for more than 1,000 yards for Morris at UNT in 2023.
All Adeyi has to prove is that he’s the more capable back-up and the depth chart could flip as soon as next week.
Sticking With ‘OR’s’
One thing didn’t change this week — there were still plenty of “OR”s on the depth chart. The only addition was the adjustment at left tackle. But positions that had one last week had one this week.
The Cowboys played more than 60 players on Saturday, and they might that again on Saturday against Oregon. It isn’t just about the heat. It’s about conditioning. Morris isn’t happy with where his team is at in that area and they may need to rotate liberally once again against the Ducks.
“Were we in shape?” Morris said. “I didn't think that we were in shape good enough to play in it [the heat]. Just going back and watching [the film] and seeing our body language on the sideline in the fourth quarter and people throwing up.”
Will This DL Start Again?
Much of the defensive line had “OR’s” next to it last week. Three players that most outsiders expected to start did start — defensive ends Jaleel Johnson and James Williams along with nose tackle Jerry Lawson. The surprise was Braylon Rigsby at defensive tackle.
Rigsby was listed as an “OR” with Iman Oates, who did play in the game. But by game’s end Oates had more snaps (27) than Rigsby (11), per Pro Football Focus. Why? Morris didn’t say, but it’s likely the Cowboys liked a particular matchup early in the game but how the contest evolved required using Oates more often.
That’s why the “OR’s” are there.
How Many Linebackers?
The linebacker depth chart remained the same. Even though the Cowboys play a 4-2-5 scheme they have three listed linebacker positions with Ethan Wesloski, Tate Romney and Isaiah Chisom
But, Wesloski and Romney played quite a bit more than Chisom, who only played 31 snaps. Will that change? Morris didn’t seem to indicate it would. If one takes a data-driven approach to performance, Chisom’s overall PFF score was 10 points higher than Romney’s, with high numbers in pass coverage.
That may not be enough to supplant Romney this week. But in future weeks? Chisom and Romney are the linebackers to watch when it comes to who starts opposite Wesloski, who looks entrenched at the SAM spot.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Matthew Postins is the publisher of Oklahoma State on SI. He is an award-winning sports journalist who was formerly the editor of the College Football America Yearbook and covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
Follow PostinsPostcard