Oklahoma State Football: Previewing Central Arkansas
Sep 3, 2015; Mount Pleasant, MI, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Jeff Carr (20) and cornerback Kevin Peterson (1) and quarterback J.W. Walsh (4) and quarterback John Kolar (9) celebrate after defeating Central Michigan at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. OSU won 24-13. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Prediction
Although this game will likely get pretty ugly by the end, it holds a surprising amount of intrigue.
First of all, the Cowboys haven’t played at home in almost 10 months. This most notably includes Mason Rudolph, whose four games include hostile environments such as Waco and Norman, a bowl game for his third start, and of course last week’s semi-bizarre season opener in a glorified high school stadium. It will be interesting to see how he finally does on his home field, which could almost seem foreign to the sophomore in a way right now.
Oklahoma State was clearly a little rusty and unmotivated last week while debuting a new offensive line and rushing attack. The first half was pretty bad offensively, but the unit seemed to settle in much better in the second half, including players like Chris Carson. Glenn Spencer should be able to give plenty of players playing time against the Bears, while freshmen such as Jeff Carr and Jalen McKleskey will certainly benefit with some more action in the friendly confines of their home field. The Cowboy offensive line should (hopefully) gel a little more against inferior competition.
Overall, it will be one of those early season feel good games, mainly because it’s an easy home opener in hot weather. Plenty of stat-padding will be going on, and all the players will benefit from more time to get some things together.
This game is definitely over by halftime, with lots of backups making big plays in the second half while giving up a late score.
Oklahoma State 52 Central Arkansas 10
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