Oklahoma State Snap Count Analysis: Biggest Winners, Losers, Role Changes From Week 1
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys are going to do a lot of unpacking after their week one loss to Tulsa. Everything is on the table including how much players played.
In the ramp-up to the season head coach Eric Morris made a big deal out of the number of snaps that his roster had played. Maybe they hadn't played much together but they logged more than 40,000 collegiate snaps at their other institutions. Morris believed that would be a factor in how well they played this season.
It admittedly did not translate on Saturday. But snap count was important on Saturday because Morris knew that his team would be dealing with searing heat in Tulsa. The game time temperature was near 100 degrees and the temperature of the turf at kickoff was more than 160 degrees.
So how did the Cowboys do with snap count for their players? Who were the big winners and losers? Who are the players the Cowboys trusted and who are the ones they might have questions about. Here's a look back at week one by snap count.
Snap count numbers are per Pro Football Focus
Winners
Desmond Magiya
Magiya was going to get some time on Saturday but after Jacob Sexton’s injury he was pressed into service at left tackle and moved around the line during the game. Three offensive linemen played 91 spans and all three were on the interior — center Tyler Mercer and guards Johnny Dickson III and Joseph Hanson. So Magiya logged most of his snaps at tackle and finished with 64 snaps.
Morris mentioned that Magiya was beat several times on the edge and had a key holding penalty. Yet, PFF graded him as the top overall offensive player for Week 1 (73.7), which admittedly isn’t saying much.
Wyatt Young
The wide receiver was listed as a co-starter with Miles Coleman at Y receiver. Coleman got more snaps than Young, but the latter was far more efficient with eight receptions and 88 yards on just 44 snaps. Coleman finished with 54 snaps. It’s encouraging to see Young get that many catches on that efficient a snap schedule. It paves the way for OSU to flip that workload next week against Oregon.
Shaun Torgeson
He and Ashton Lepo were supposed to split reps at right tackle before the Sexton injury. When Magiya struggled at left tackle, Torgeson and Lepo started flipping over there. Torgeson appeared to win some trust on Saturday. He had 69 snaps to Lepo’s 43, with far more work in pass protection (48) than either Magiya (39) or Lepo (23). Morris has been impressed with the Portland State transfer throughout camp.
Quinton Hammonds
Hammonds logged more snaps at free safety than any other Cowboys defender at any other position on Saturday (61). He was equally effective against the run and against the pass. He ended up with four tackles, but no one defensively was exceptional against Tulsa. Hammonds was one of the better ones.
LaDainian Fields
LaDainian Fields had an “OR” next to his name on the opening-week depth chart. The Cowboys should take that off this week. He logged more snaps (40) than any other cornerback on the roster and had the defense’s only game-changing play, a third-quarter interception. PFF graded him as the Cowboys’ best cover corner and Morris wants playmakers on the edge. That was his third career interception since he started playing full-time last year.
Losers
Justin Bowick and Chris Barnes
Bowick and Barnes combined for seven receptions in the game and no receivers played more snaps than the pair, as Bowick was on the field 80 times and Barnes 78.
This is not about how they played, because both played well. But they were just worn out by game’s end. Morris said after the game he may need to get them off the field a bit more to preserve them late in games. Whether the Cowboys have the depth to do so, especially with Bowick, who is 6-5, is another question.
Morgan McPhaul
Even though the Cowboys have five players listed as OR on the depth chart at tight end, only three played on Saturday and there was a chasm between the starter, Carson Kolb (60) and McPhaul (13). It shows the coaching staff has trust in Kolb — but not in anyone else. That’s not good from a depth perspective.
Bodie Boydstun only played one snap.
Isaiah Chisom
Since the Cowboys listed three linebacker positions on the depth chart and they play a 4-2-5, how the workload was divided on Saturday was something to watch. Chisom ended up being the one losing playing time. He logged 31 snaps, as Ethan Wesloski (58) and Tate Romney (47) logged far more. One thing to watch moving forward is that Chisom graded out as a far better tackler (79.1) per PFF than Wesloski (60.5) or Romney (43.9).
Romney and Wesloski had seven tackles each. Chisom had four.
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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.
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