Practice Report: Cowboys Totally Ramped Up on Tulsa
STILLWATER -- Oklahoma State has been busy over the Labor Day weekend. The Cowboys held their annual mock game on Saturday as the team ran out in game uniforms and went through a lengthy run thru that was scripted to include everything from an overtime finish to an un-timed down. There was a brief weather delay and all kinds of distractions thrown out to get some practice at focusing in on the game. There were officials on hand for a last warning on the new rules and some of the old ones.
Sunday the Cowboys used as an extra Tuesday practice in preparation for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The team will actually have Labor Day Monday off as they have folded into the regular season routine as if anything can be called regular these days.
Monday will be a test day for all players and regular staff. The test days for Big 12 football programs will be Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
"Wednesday is the day and the results that tell you whether you (your program) will be able to play (on Saturday," Oklahoma State team doctor Dr. Val Gene Iven told me. "Then Friday is the day that tells you exactly who can play in the game."
Fridays anybody that is going to be on the field is tested and those results which they get back quickly are exchanged with the other team in the game and filed with the Big 12 Conference.
It is a new world for sure, college football in the COVID-19 pandemic age.
The rest of the week Oklahoma State will practice heavy on Tuesday and Wednesday, lighten up with a run thru on Thursday and then a walk thru and rest on Friday to lead up to the 6:30 kickoff with Tulsa on Saturday.
Tulsa goes through all of the same protocols this week and they did have a period in fall camp in August where they shut down their program for almost a week. This is a team that has talent and led the Cowboys at halftime in Tulsa last season before losing 40-21. The Golden Hurricane finished the season 4-8, but they return a lot of skill talent and for the first time since 2016 they return a starting quarterback in Zach Smith.
Last year against Oklahoma State, Smith was hounded by the Cowboys with linebacker (33) Kevin Henry on the pass rush. Smith as sacked three times.
Pat Kinnison - Pokes Report chief photographer
Top running back Shamari Brooks (1,046-yards and 6 touchdowns) and second leading rusher Corey Taylor (461-yards and 6 touchdowns) both are back and so is the top two receivers in Keylon Stokes (62 receptions for 1,040-yards and 6 touchdowns) and Sam Crawford (59 catches for 777-yards and 5 touchdowns).
Smith should have some fun.
"I think Zach put so much on himself last season," sideline reporter for Tulsa Jeremy Poplin explained. "He had transferred in and saw Dane Evans and Zach hadn't played in 18 months or so (since transferring from Baylor) and Evans put the bar so high that Zach, I think put so much pressure on himself that I don't think he had worked through that until we got to the midway point of the season. I think it was then that you could look at him and see he was much more comfortable than ever before."
"Zach had a good season last year, but he has talked in a lot of way how he has to improve on it and one of those he has said is ball security and decision making," explained TU play-by-play voice Bruce Howard. "He had a decent year last year, so it's a work in progress. I think offensively, they (coaching staff) feel pretty good about it."
The tough thing for Tulsa and their offensive line is that this Oklahoma State defense is better, maybe a lot better.
Pat Kinnison - Pokes Report chief photographer
The big question is the offensive line. They returned four starters off a young unit, but just last week returning starting left guard X'Zauvea Gadlin opted out of the season. He will be replaced by Kansas State grad transfer Dylan Couch.
"He (Gadlin) is going to sit out because of COVID, but all of the others have a lot of snaps under their belt," Poplin said of the offensive line developments.
"Offensive line is the position they feel concerned and so far, it looks like they have shored that up," added Howard. "How they work and get that offensive line ready, I think that is the key for Tulsa because they have to protect Zach Smith.
The defense lost 7-of-11 starters and is another question for the Golden Hurricane.
"They lost a lot of guys including two guys that got drafted in the NFL, but they return a lot of players that saw the bullets fly," Howard said of the defense. "They may only return a few starters but they return a number of guys that started a game or two or played a lot, so it's probably not as bad on the defense in that there are a lot of returning starters but there are some returning players. I think that may be a little of a misnomer."
Those returning players will have a huge chore in trying to stop the Oklahoma State offense and Chuba Hubbard, who had 256-yards and three touchdowns in T-town last September.
