Offense had a Positive Course Adjustment in Kansas Win

When Oklahoma State is at it's best on offense, you can expect two certainties, balance and explosion. This Cowboys offense showed both in Lawrence.

STILLWATER -- The eight buses that the Oklahoma State football team traveled back to Stillwater on Saturday evening after their 47-7 win over the Kansas Jayhawks weren't fooling around. Heck, the Cowboys football equipment truck was the last vehicle to leave Kansas Memorial Stadium and I believe it was the first one to arrive back at the West End Zone. Those buses pulled out ar around 6:45 p.m. and they pulled back into the parking lot outside the West End Zone of Boone Pickens Stadium at 10:20 making the trek home in a quick three hours and 35 minutes. 

Considering the Oklahoma State offensive performance in Lawrence earlier in the day, that seemed slow. Oklahoma State had been pedestrian in the wins over Tulsa (16-7) and West Virginia (27-13) averaging 313-yards of offense per game and just six explosive plays. We call explosive plays any running play over 15-yards and any pass play over 20-yards. 

On Saturday in Kansas the Cowboys had eight explosive plays in an offensive dominant performance that saw the Pokes gain 593-yards with 295-yards rushing and 298-yards through the air. It left Cowboys offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn, in his first season of calling plays, with a huge smile on his face. Explosive plays on the ground outnumbered those through the air five-to-three, but the three through the air accounted for 151-yards and two touchdowns. 

“We wanted to push the ball downfield today and open it up,” Dunn said. “It was time to stretch it vertically, so we took a couple shots, and it worked out.”

Nearly 300-yards rushing and the same passing is a dream day for an offense and it's coordinator. The dreamy performance that started on the first drive with Chuba Hubbard going for 11-yards on the first play and finishing that drive with four carries for 26-yards and the game with 20 carries for 145-yards with two touchdowns made a difference for Cowboy fans. They've been whispering since week one, 'what's wrong with Chuba?'

Chuba said he had kind of wondered too. In the interview on the Cowboy Radio,Network postgame he got deep and religious. In the Zoom interview with media he was more matter of fact than philosophical.

“Obviously, the last few games I haven’t done what I wanted to,” Hubbard said. “I just love to play football every day, work hard every day. Some days it’s not gonna be the best. Some days it will.”

Saturday it was and it was a good day for the Oklahoma State offensive line, obviosuly, with that kind of performance. It was a career day early in the career of Shane Illingworth with 17-of-23 passing for 265-yards and three touchdowns. There were no interceptions and two of his incompletions were drops. 

Tylan Wallace caught two of those explosive pass plays, one on a 55-yard touchdown that he calims he has never been as open on. 

"I really can't remember being that open ever before," Wallace said. "Those can be harder that the ones where you are battling for the ball." 

Braydon Johnson caught a 66-yard touchdown pass. Six players caught passes and five running backs carried the ball including Dezmon Jackson, who carried 10 times for 91-yards. 

You can't lie. I know that you Oklahoma State loyal and true were worried. The offense seemed sluggish, a little out of sync. LD Brown was the one player that looked full out. The rest was just a little off. Kansas was just what the football doctor or devout Cowboys fans would have ordered, an explosive offense socring lots of points with a defense that is crushing opponents. The Jayhawks aren't a great challenge, but the Cowboys beat Kansas the way a top 10 team, Big 12 title contender, and College Football Playoff candidate should.