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Halftime Thoughts: Oklahoma State at Texas (with Video)

By Kurt Freudenberger

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Oklahoma State 17 Texas 20

What a crazy half so far.

Oklahoma State scored on their first two possessions, and then a bunch of weirdness ensued.

Phantom fumbles, negated interceptions, terribly-timed penalties for Texas, big run plays from a Longhorns’ backup quarterback, and then suddenly it’s halftime.

The Cowboys looked pretty sharp on the first two touchdowns, driving down the field with relative ease. Since then however, things have gotten a little strange.

This could be much worse if not for some questionable penalties on Texas. Things will get a lot worse in the second half if the Cowboys can’t figure out how to stop this newfound Texas running attack featuring Tyrone freaking Swoopes.

Also, Gundy’s commitment to the run has yielded very mixed results.

Some quick stats:

Total Yards: OSU: 237  Texas: 242

Possession Time: OSU: 14:01 Texas: 15:59

Mason Rudolph: 15-19, 192 yards, 1 TD 0 INT

Jerrod Heard: 7-9, 84 yards, 0 TD 0 INT, 7 rushes, 40 yards

Rushing Yards: OSU: 45 Texas: 158

The Good

– Again, those first two drives were great. Some decent running plays set up the pass, and the Cowboys used a fast tempo attack for the first real time this season, and it worked. More of that please.

– How about the poise Rudolph showed on that early touchdown pass?

– The defense did a good job early on containing Heard, and seem to be shutting down receivers downfield.

– Mason Rudolph game out guns blazing and aggressive.

– J.W. Walsh remains highly effective.

The Bad

– Heard seems to be figuring out how to get past the front line more as the game progresses.

– Rudolph has been flustered ever since that fumble, and would’ve been real flustered had it not been for that bailout roughing the passer penalty that negated his awful interception.

– Seriously, this run Cowboy defense is non-existent.

– The running up the middle thing is just not working for the Cowboys — as usual.

– 45 rushing yards against the 119th ranked rushing defense.

On to the second half. No idea what to expect at this point, but if the Cowboys can calm the freak down, and maybe put a spy on Heard to help with stopping his runs, maybe things will go a little better.

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