Oklahoma State Football: Three Things to Watch For Against TCU

3. The likely absence of Jimmy Bean.

You might have heard by now that senior defensive end Jimmy Bean is probably going to miss the TCU game with a leg injury. Should Bean sit the game out, the Cowboys will be without a player who has 5.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss so far this season playing alongside Emmanuel Ogbah. This really couldn’t have come at a worse time.

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Losing a player who has started 34 consecutive games doesn’t bode well when playing against arguably the nation’s best quarterback, who is protected by an offensive line that has given up the fewest sacks in the conference, and plays so well that he gets mid-fives from opposing coaches during a game.

Glenn Spencer has four other players that have seen action at that position this season, with the most productive one being redshirt freshmen Jarrell Owens, who has four tackles and two sacks while appearing in every game so far in 2015. The rotation will be interesting to watch during the matchup, and it’s anyone’s guess as to who will step up, or even be able to hold their own against the nation’s second-best offense. Worried? You should be, but let’s not forget that the Cowboys lost senior linebacker Ryan Simmons earlier in the season, and Chad Whitener has played very well in his place. One can only hope for similar results. We’ll find out soon enough.