Three Takeaways From Oklahoma State’s Loss on Saturday
The Oklahoma State Cowboys went out to Orlando on Saturday and got blown out, losing 45-3 to the UCF Knights.
OSU came into the game with a five-game winning streak and a clear path to the conference championship. The Knights didn't care about any of that on Saturday.
All of it was bad, but three things stood out against the Knights.
If Ollie doesn’t go, OSU doesn’t go
It was just an awful night for the OSU offense, but especially for Ollie Gordon. The sophomore running back came into Saturday with six straight games with over 100 rushing yards. That all came to a screeching halt against the Knights.
Gordon had only 12 carries for 25 yards on Saturday, the fewest yards for him since the South Alabama game. If Gordon isn’t getting any carries and isn't running the ball effectively, OSU has a hard time getting anything going on offense.
Turnovers
Rain played a factor in this, but OSU can’t have that many turnovers. The Cowboys had four turnovers, including three interceptions from Alan Bowman. The one fumble came from Gordon, who now has two fumbles in the last three games.
Those turnovers played a huge role as UCF scored 17 points off those turnovers. The Knights had control of the game from the start, but OSU can’t give them free points and expect to come back and win the game.
If the Cowboys do what it did on offense for the rest of the season, they will have a hard time making it to the conference championship.
UCF did what it has been doing all season.
The Knights came into the contest ranked fourth in the nation in rushing offense and right at 50% on third-down conversions this season. Both of those stats stayed intact on Saturday.
UCF had 315 rushing yards, including 214 yards and three touchdowns from running back RJ Harvey. The Knights were also 50% on third-down conversions on Saturday.
Oklahoma State’s defense came in ranked 95th in the country in rushing defense, and it showed on Saturday.
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