Oklahoma State Football: KSU Post-Game Report Card

Oct 3, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; Kansas State Wildcats wide receiver Dominique Heath (4) is pushed out of bounds against the Oklahoma State Cowboy during the first quarter at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Defense

First Half: D

Second Half: A

Just like the Texas game, this grade is appropriately divided into two halves.

When Tre’ Flowers’ hit knocked starting quarterback Joe Hubener out of the game early on, part of me actually felt bad for Kansas State, especially when we learned that the replacement was a friggin’ fifth-string Juco wide receiver. It didn’t take long for Kody Cook to get going however, as he ran for a touchdown on his first drive, and then led the Wildcats on two straight touchdown drives following.

He looked poised, natural, and totally at ease running the offense. Before the Cowboys even knew what hit them, Cook was 7-9 for 98 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 64 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.

A little research into Cook revealed that this wasn’t his first time in such a situation.

Glenn Spencer had no answer for Cook initially, and can you blame him? Oklahoma State had zero preparation for Cook, and had zero film on him ever playing the position. Cook’s play completely opened things up for what up until then had been a relatively offensively-challenged KSU team.

By halftime, the Wildcats had racked up 28 points off of 230 yards.

But then the second half started.

The Cowboys looked much more settled in the third quarter, and completely reigned in Cook and K-State. The Wildcats finished with one net yard of offense at the end of the quarter.

One.

The OSU defense cranked up the pressure on Cook, and maintained excellent coverage on the receivers, forcing him to run into a wall of defenders numerous times when all of his options were exhausted.

Cook would then exit with an injury of his own, and then Joe Hubener somehow returned to the game. The Kansas State offense didn’t fare much better, but did engineer a 94-yard touchdown drive to go up late, most of which came on a 72-yard pass.

Still, the Cowboy defense showed up on every possession in the second half, and were incredibly clutch when needed nearly every time.

The final numbers were outstanding: 14 tackles for loss, which included six sacks, three quarterback hurries, and a lone interception on the last real play of the game.

It was certainly a group effort, but one player stood out the most, and that was Chad Whitener. The sophomore linebacker had a brilliant game while stepping in for an injured Ryan Simmons, racking up nine tackles that included three tackles for a loss and two sacks.

Here’s one of them actually, in what was one of the more humorous plays of the season:

With this game now in the books, the Cowboys now rank 1st nationally in both sacks per game (4.4) AND tackles for a loss (10.2.)

Let that sink in for a minute.

It’s been incredible this year watching this group, and this is definitely unfamiliar territory for most OSU fans. It’s a strange feeling to have this much confidence in the defense, but they continue to prove themselves every game, and have shown that they can make the necessary adjustments when needed. Yeah, there were some miscues and dumb penalties that extended drives, but they more than got the job done.

Next: Special Teams and Overall GPA