Like many of you, I have not had the opportunity to watch much Oklahoma State football this season. So last night, I took some time to review the box scores from their games in detail and looked at the play-by-play from a couple of their games. I made some observations that I think provide some insight into how Texas Tech should play OSU this weekend. You can read them after the break.
Observations regarding the OSU offense.
The write ups by Texas bloggers all commented on how good a team OSU really is, and that the 4 point win in Austin was extremely hard fought. I have to admit, I have been skeptical of OSU as a team. As I mentioned in a response earlier this week, they seem to be streaky to me. Perhaps that is because they are reliant on the big play offensively. When they aren't getting them, things start to melt down. I think that containing the big play - especially against the run - is the key to Tech winning this game. The battle of the trenches just became about 10x as important for Tech in this game in my eyes. The play in the Tech interior d-line will be very important, as it will be their job to plug up the gaps, make a few tackles, and allow the linebackers to make plays downhill. Again this week, containment by the defensive ends will be important, as Robinson is a legitimate running threat (despite fewer carries this year), and I think Hunter would prefer to run in the open field versus between the tackles. According to dedfischer over at Tortilla Retort, the OSU offensive line is pretty good. So our defensive line will have their hands full.
As for the OSU passing game, Tech plays its best pass defense in man coverage. I think that we need to stick to that plan and trust our corners to make plays. Trying to double up on Bryant with a safety opens Tech up to a breakaway run by a team that thrives on that ability. I don't think we should concede to their bread and butter. Make Robinson beat you with his arm in tight coverage. He doesn't have the accuracy of McCoy and is prone to mistakes. Pettigrew is a big target and a potential threat across the middle. We need our linebackers to make good tackles and our defensive ends to keep him busy at the line of scrimmage.
Observations regarding the OSU defense.
I wanted to know how teams performed against OSU versus their average performance. I have included a table below of the conference games:
|
Pass O vs OSU |
Rush O vs OSU |
Avg Pass O |
Avg Rush O |
% gain/(loss) Pass v OSU |
% gain/(loss) Rush v OSU |
Texas A&M |
218 |
184 |
110.67 |
251.6 |
96.98 |
(26.87) |
Missouri |
390 |
64 |
358.3 |
155.78 |
8.85 |
(58.92) |
Baylor |
162 |
42 |
196.1 |
183.33 |
(17.39) |
(77.09) |
Texas |
391 |
113 |
302.1 |
171.89 |
29.43 |
(34.26) |
Iowa State |
240 |
122 |
219.8 |
132.33 |
9.19 |
(7.81) |
Conclusions: