If last week was the highest of highs for the offense, this week had to be the lowest of lows.
Losing to a top-10 team in the nation is nothing to be ashamed of, but putting up a goose egg in the process while your defense plays the best that it could to keep you in the game is a bit disappointing after the week that we have had.
Even with some of the upsetting performances we’ve seen this year, this one is probably going to be graded the worst. There was no real positive to point out on offense as they just didn’t show up.
Quarterbacks: C-
Donovan Smith’s performance last week wasn’t a mistake. He is a really good quarterback and the Cyclones of Iowa State always have a good defense. This week just wasn’t his week as he went 9-29 for 83 yards.
The Cowboys defense brought pressure at a high rate and even when they didn’t they still were able to rattle Smith and play tight enough coverage underneath to prevent anything short. Smith missed some opportunities deep but other than that he was just too inaccurate and felt the pressure.
Behren Morton came in late in the game and ended up somehow leading the team in rushing. He tried everything that he could to get us back into it but the defense was just too much for the offense all day. It’ll be a nice storyline to see which guy starts next week but I would also like to see Tyler Shough get the offense back if he’s healthy enough.
Running Back: C
The group that has been consistently the best for this team just wasn’t a factor at all. Most of this was due to the lack of run blocking from the offensive line, but the guys just weren’t making the plays that they usually do. There’s really nothing to note as far as production goes because Texas Tech was in three and out situations fast.
After watching the tape, the offensive line is the main culprit here. The holes weren’t there and they were getting tackled in the backfield most of the time. Hopefully against Baylor this group can get going and have more of an impact on the game.
Wide Receivers: C
Another position that was unfortunately a no-show. Really nobody was able to make an impact because of the lack of efficiency from the quarterbacks.
The leader in yards was McLane Mannix and he had 16 yards. Next week should hopefully be a lot more productive from this group as they face Baylor in the regular season finally.
Tight End: B
The guy who ended up leading the team in receiving was Mason Tharp with three receptions for 39 yards. Travis Koontz didn’t suit up for this one so Tharp was able to get a majority of the opportunities.
He’s just a Freshman this year, and he will eventually become one of the most important weapons on this team with his size and athleticism combination.
Offensive Line: F
There it is folks, my first F grade of the season. Surprisingly it came so late in the season, but when you get shutout like this there has to be something that went terribly wrong and the offensive line is what that was.
There was no run blocking to be found as the backs had absolutely no room to get anything going. The pass blocking was bad enough to lead to five sacks and a whole lot of pressure as well.
This is easily the worst performance from this group this season, and having it against a team like Oklahoma State will lead to the game going the way that it did.
Coaching/Game Plan: C
While the players themselves didn’t perform all that well, the coaches barely did anything to help get the guys in more favorable positions than they were in.
The offense didn’t seem to have the sense of urgency that it needed once it got into a hole. To go along with that the play-calling at time was just not what you would like to see when facing a team that plays as good on the defensive side as the Cowboys do.
I would definitely like to see them start to use some more screens to get the ball into EZ’s hands and try to run the ball early instead of doing it in 2nd and long situations like we have seen too often.