Offensive Review vs. Tulsa: Run Game Schemes, Communication, Fourth Quarter Strong
STILLWATER -- Nobody likes or, honestly, really cares about excuses. We live in a no excuse world, most of us anyway. Oklahoma State football head coach Mike Gundy is a no excuse coach and after the Cowboys 16-7 win over Tulsa on Saturday, Gundy was full of praise for a defense that richly deserved it. He was also ready to do the postgame autopsy on an offense that spent three quarters looking like anything but a typical Oklahoma State offense.
“We got put in a unique situation there for a while,” Gundy said. “We had to regroup, particularly on offense.”
Oklahoma State lost starting quarterback Spencer Sanders after the first quarter and they also lost redshirt freshman 6-8, 308-pound starting right guard Cole Birmingham to a foot injury. Two offensive linemen in Ry Schneider at center and left-then-right tackle Teven Jenkins were still compromised some from missed practice earlier this month and last with COVID-19 protocols and quarantine.
That left offensive line coach Charlie Dickey with a major juggling act.
"Our communication was good," Gundy told myself and the rest of the crew on the Cowboy Radio Network postgame. "Kasey [Dunn] was calm and so was Charlie Dickey and Tim (Rattay-quarterback coach). For a first time with an offensive staff and dealing with as much as they were, it was good. There was no yelling, guys were working on making adjustments. We had a lot going on."
“You lose your quarterback after the first series of the game in your first game of the year and everybody is going, ‘Oh, crap, what the hell happened?’” explained brand new offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn in his postgame Zoom with the media. “Those two guys (back-up quarterbacks Ethan Bullock and Shane Illingworth) stepped in and did a solid job. Hats off to Shane, he stepped in during a moment where we needed a couple of plays. He found the right couple of guys and got them the football. He got protection, settled up and did a nice job of standing in the pocket.”
As for the offensive line, the final combination of the day that came together in the second half was newly scholarshiped Jake Springfield at left tackle, West Virginia transfer Josh Sills at left guard, Schneider at center, Hunter Woodard at right guard, and Jenkins back over at his longtime home in right tackle.
Blocking is an issue when Chuba Hubbard only averages 3.4-yards per carry and the offense only runs for 139-yards overall.
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Reviewing every play of the game, there were all kinds of issues. Four of the sacks came in the first half with running back Chuba Hubbard missing a block on linebacker Zaven Collins causing the first sack of Sanders. The second sack on Sanders was a coverage sack. Starting right tackle Hunter Anthony missed on Tulsa defensive end Anthony Goodlow on the first sack of Bullock. In the second quarter, Hunter Woodard missed as Collins slipped in between him and center Ry Schneider. The third quarter Bullock was run out of bounds for a sack by Collins. The coverage gets a lot of credit there. The sixth sack came a little later in the third with Springfield losing Tulsa's Cullen Wick.
No sacks after Illingworth came in. The freshman threw the ball away when he needed to and the offensive line seemed to be getting better in protection.
The offensive line also got better in run blocking. No excuse, Schneider was holding, but it was one gap over from where L.D. Brown broke through for a 51-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter had holding not be flagged. The run game was much better in the fourth quarter as they went to more gap scheme runs and away from the offensive favorite and "go to" of outside zone.
The line struggled blocking outside zone for three quarters with too much inside penetration and not being able to secure the edge. Part of the problem was the Cowboy backs, who, with the exception of a really good inside zone seal block by Logan Carter, struggled all game with blocking. Starter Jelani Woods had a catch on a nice adjustment by Illingworth, but Woods struggled blocking TU defenders.
Some of the solutions will be made this week in adjusting the offensive line and depth chart. Some of the solutions will come in throwing material in and out of the game plan.
My guess, and it is a guess, is Spencer Sanders is out for this week. Freshman Shane Illingworth, by play and by demeanor, seemed very comfortable and I think he is quite capable of winning in this offense. The key will be the offensive line, the supporting cast, and the decisions made by the coaching staff.
Zaven Collins (23) was a thorn in the Oklahoma State offense with six tackles, three sacks, and four tackles for loss.
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West Virginia is much better than Tulsa on the defensive line. They have the Stills brothers, including preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in Darius Stills. I'm not sure the Mountaineers are better at linebacker and on the back end. Zaven Collins is one heckuva player that was coaching in high school at Hominy, Okla. by former Cowboy safety Scott Harmon. The miss was not recruiting him. Tulsa is really good in the secondary.
Either way, the Cowboys have started this season in a reversal of trends. Normally, the fan panic has started with the defense. As I walked out of Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday and looked at my phone and messages, the panic is offense.
Mike Gundy, Kasey Dunn, Charlie Dickey, Tim Rattay, John Wozniak, and Jason McEndoo are well aware.
“I don’t think we’ll cancel practice tomorrow,” Gundy said on his Zoom in postgame. “We’re gonna have to figure out where we’re at offensively based on moving some guys around, and then try to determine what gives us the best chance to move the ball and score points.”
